University of Minnesota Athletics
Burns To Receive Honor Coach Award
4/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
By Ashley Stewart
Athletic Communications Student Assistant
On Wednesday night, University of Minnesota head men’s gymnastics coach Mike Burns will be receiving the Honor Coach Award for this year along with Barry Weiner, Head Coach at the University of California Berkley. The Honor Coach Award is a prestigious recognition from the College Gymnastics Association (CGA).
Nominees for the Honor Coach Award must have been involved in coaching gymnastics at the collegiate level for a minimum of 25 years, must have demonstrated a high level of competence as a coach and must have demonstrated leadership in the development of gymnastics and service to the sport. All eligible voters for the award include all NCAA head and assistant coaches, former Honor Coach Award winners and Honorary Lifetime College Gymnastic Association members.
“This is a terrific award for Mike and the University of Minnesota,” said Tom Gibbs, co-chair of the Honor Coach selection process. “He now joins a long and distinguished list of coaches who have devoted a lifetime to the sport of gymnastics.”
Tom Dunn, the other co-chair of the Honor Coach selection will have the honor of presenting Coach Burns with the award at an NCAA banquet Wednesday night in Minneapolis, prior to the NCAA Championships. Dunn gave Burns his first coaching job at the University of Iowa, where Dunn is still the head coach.
This is Coach Burns’ fifth season at the University of Minnesota as head coach and he has had an astonishing past in the sport. Among countless awards, Burns led the 2007 team to the NCAA team finals after coaching five national champions, 37 All-Americans and 14 Big Ten champions throughout his entire coaching career consisting of the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan. Burns has also coached with Team USA at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Burns was recently elected as the President of the College Gymnastics Association, after serving as Vice President since 2004. He has also been a member of the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors since 2000.
Burns is originally from Norwood, Mass. and walked on at Penn State. He graduated in 1980 as a four-year letter winner. He then immediately went to the University of Iowa as an assistant coach for 11 years.
“I am really honored to be recognized by the CGA with this award,” Burns said. “It’s really hard to believe I have been coaching long enough to receive this award. It's been an amazing 28-1/2 years. I have had the pleasure to work with so many great folks along the way. I just hope I can stick around another 28-1/2 years. If I do that, they may give me another award - one for extreme longevity.”
“Starting his collegiate career as a walk-on and becoming a very good gymnast is a tribute to his fortitude and devotion to gymnastics,” Gibbs said of Burns. “To the young men he has coached at all levels in the past, as well as those he continues to mentor today, the results have been evident at every juncture. I was an FIG Brevet Judge for more than 20 years and have judged numerous collegiate meets and NCAA Championships. Among the gymnasts that I judged was Mike Burns and that makes me extremely proud to be around for his selection.”
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