Mount Olive Gymnastics Coach Named NJ.com Gymnastics Coach of the Year

This year, for the first time in its young history, the Mount Olive High School gymnastics team made it to the State Team Championships. The accomplishment is, thus far, the crowning jewel in a string of years that saw the program grow in both size and stature amongst the best of school gymnastics programs all across New Jersey. The mastermind behind it all is none other than Mount Olive graduate, Becky Neidhardt.

Neidhardt, who was also a former Mount Olive cheerleader, spent her youth training in gymnastics. In her earliest years, she trained with her mother, who worked as a preschool gymnastics coach. She continued her training during her high school years. Since Mount Olive did not have a gymnastics team, she went the club route. She did all this while competing as a cheerleader. During her college years at Morehead State University, while she maintained her personal training as a gymnast, she continued cheerleading, winning two national cheerleading titles for the university during her time there. 

Today, aside from coaching the gymnastics team at the high school, Neidhardt also teaches 8th grade special education at Mount Olive Middle School. She has two daughters, Molly and McKenna, the latter of which she named after McKenna Kelley, daughter of legendary American gymnast Mary Lou Retton, one of three gymnasts Neidhardt has admired. The other two are Amanda Borden, a member of the Magnificent Seven on the 1996 Olympic team, and, more recently, Simone Biles.

The 2022 Mount Olive Marauders

 As for Mount Olive’s 2022 gymnasts, they enjoyed consistent success, with the freshman class stepping up and delivering big. Amy Rubinstein and Meghan Rodas were named First Team All-Around All-New Jersey Gymnastics League, and Anna Tava was recognized for her work on bars. The team also rose thanks to help from its veterans, led by Sophia Lemongello and Sofia DiDomenico, each of which co-captained the team after mutual four-year stints as varsity members of the team. 

The team cruised to a 10-0 record during the regular season before plunging into postseason competition. With injuries to DiDomenico and Rubinstein, Neidhardt had to tap into her team to push forth and make up for these difficult losses to their roster. By the end of the run, the Marauders earned their first ever trip to the New Jersey state championship in the history of its program, and finished ranked tenth in the state.

When looking back at the individuals who most influenced her coaching methods, Neidhardt remembers her college days. 

“I was lucky to be a part of such an amazing dynasty at Morehead State University, which was coached by Myron Doan,” she says. “My coaching qualities mimic much of how he coached us. We were each trained to push our individual limits. ‘Don’t practice until you get it right, but practice until you can’t get it wrong.’”

Her favorite aspect of coaching itself, she says, is the beautiful process of guiding an athlete to tap into reserves she never knew she had, and instilling in her the drive to keep digging, keep pushing to discover newer and newer wells of potential. Gymnastics itself is a sport that caters well to this guided self-discovery between athlete and coach. There are no individual awards in the sport during the regular season, which allows the team to strengthen its bond as one whole, as opposed to individual members with different skill levels. 

The popularity of the sport at Mount Olive is surely a good sign for the school and for Neidhardt, but it has its challenges. 

“The biggest challenge is that as our team is growing, it makes it difficult for coaches to individually meet the needs of every athlete,” she notes. “We have girls on the team who are beginners, and some athletes who only do gymnastics during high school season, and yet others who do gymnastics on a full year basis with a club team. They all have individual needs.”  

Coach Neidhardt with Assistant Coach Jen Hamilton, whom she credits with having taken the Mount Olive gymnastics team "to the next level" in 2022

 Neidhardt is quick to point to assistant coach Jen Hamilton, whose addition to the program—and her knack for providing strong emotional support for the gymnasts—is what took the Mount Olive program to the next level.

Under Neidhardt’s stewardship, some of the 2022 Mount Olive Marauders tallied up the following team records: 

2022 NJGL League A Champions; 2022 North 1 Sectional Champions; 8th Place in the Team State Championship qualifier; Individual State Championship recognition for Freshman Meghan Rodas (all around), Freshman Amy Rubinstein (bars), and Freshman Anna Tava (beam). 

“The Freshman of this team were our hidden gem,” says Neidhardt. “Meghan Rodas, Amy Rubinstein, Anna Tava, and Lila Sterling set a high standard for athletes to follow. They continuously performed dynamic and graceful routines that produced amazing results.”

Moving forward, the coach says that she hopes to continue working towards building a home at Mount Olive. 

“Our goal is to continue to involve the community in the development of this program. We have so much talent within the town. When we have equipment we will be able to host meets for people to come and watch. I want my athletes to realize they have a place in town, and for each of them to understand they are valued on the team. I strive to teach discipline and respect, and to create a team morale that will establish memories for a lifetime.”