Gail Goodspeed, now in her 33rd season as the head coach of the University of New Hampshire gymnastics team, has helped create one of the strongest programs in New England. The Wildcats have a tradition of sustained success as a top-tier team in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) and a perennial competitor in the NCAA Regional Championship while maintaining rigorous academic standards among the highest in the nation.

The 2011 season saw the Wildcats advance to the AIAW/NCAA postseason for a remarkable 31st time in Goodspeed’s 32-year tenure. UNH reached the brink of capturing its second EAGL Championship before coming away with a runner-up finish (195.175 points) for its top result since 2003. In the process, Goodspeed recorded her 500th career coaching victory at the University, propelling the ‘Cats to the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Norman Regional at the University of Oklahoma. After starting the year as the No. 32 team in the nation, the Wildcats exceeded expectations by concluding the campaign ranked 30^th.

In 2011, UNH was one of only two gymnastics programs in New England (Yale) and 17 nationally to receive an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate Recognition Award for demonstrating a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes. Further, UNH was the 17th-ranked program in the country and No. 2 in New England (Brown) with a cumulative 3.4567 GPA. Nine of Goodspeed’s gymnasts were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-Americans and 15 were tabbed to the EAGL All-Academic Team.

Five members of the 2011 UNH women’s gymnastics team garnered All-EAGL honors, with three Wildcats earning places on the first team in their respective events: Ali Carr (vault); Austyn Fobes (floor, all-around) and Danielle Reibold (bars.) Katie Lawrence (beam) and Chelsea Steinberg (vault, beam, floor, all-around) notched second-team honors.

Goodspeed’s successful track record includes five NCAA Northeast Region Head Coach of the Year awards, most recently in 2008. Previous honors were bestowed in 1991, 1994, 2001 and 2003, when she was also named the EAGL Coach of the Year.

Several of Goodspeed’s athletes and teams have been part of UNH history-making performances. In 2006, senior captain Amanda Hall was the Northeast Regional Floor Champion and took 3rd in the All-Around. This qualified her for the NCAA National Championship, making her the seventh individual from UNH to earn such high honors. At the Championship, her score of 9.8 on vault narrowly missed qualifying her as an All-American. During the 2005 campaign, Amanda Hall and Mariana Peña Trestini scored a 9.975 on the floor exercise in the regular season, setting the new UNH record. In 2005 postseason action, Vanessa Berrios shared the Northeast Regional Balance Beam title with a score of 9.85, earning her a spot at the NCAA National Championship as the sixth individual to represent UNH. The 2003 Wildcats captured their first-ever EAGL Championship with a UNH school record team total of 196.750. At the same competition, Tara Phillips vaulted perfectly, scoring her first ever 10.0, permanently etching her name among the University’s all-time greats.

Goodspeed has guided the Wildcats to four ECAC Championships, appearances in 29 NCAA Regional Championships and two AIAW Regional Championships (prior to NCAA sponsorship) while building a 501-266-2 record. The ‘Cats won the 1994 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship and competed at the NCAA Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. UNH finished that season as the 12th-ranked team in the country. In addition to the team qualification to the national championship, individuals have represented UNH at the national championship 11 different times during Goodspeed’s 31 years at the reins.

“It has always been our goal to help each student-athlete strive to reach her full potential and accomplish this in a positive atmosphere. When this occurs, the team is successful and it’s fun for everyone,” Goodspeed states.

Goodspeed earned a doctorate from the School of Education at Boston University in 1984. She has used this education to enhance the quality of the experience of practicing and competing. Her dissertation involved development and implementation of a comprehensive sport psychology program for female gymnasts. Aspects of the program are incorporated into the training plan at UNH. “We try to focus on those things over which we have control, including our own response to and perception of stressful situations. Training is intense and our team members are dedicated to each other and to the goal of achieving excellence,” Goodspeed says.

Much of the strength and success of the UNH gymnastics program lies with the stability and dedication of the coaching staff. Goodspeed is married to associate head coach Ed Datti (31st year/ 29th full time), and together, with additional assistants and support staff, they have developed one of the most respected programs in the Northeast. The staff has added former Cal gymnast Jessica Kelley as a first-year assistant coach.           

A collegiate competitor from 1970-74 at Springfield College, Goodspeed captained the team her senior year and was a member of two AIAW National Championship teams. She was assistant coach for her alma mater in 1974-75 when the team placed 4th at the National Championship. Goodspeed was inducted into the Springfield College Hall of Fame in October 2002. She has served as treasurer of the National Coaches Association and served on the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Committee. She was head coach of California State-Northridge for two years and was also a business manager and coach at the Montvale Gymnastics Club. Goodspeed holds a master’s degree from Springfield and earned a doctorate in sports psychology from Boston University.

She and Ed have two daughters, 22-year-old Samantha and 18-year-old Brianna. Samantha graduated summa cum laude from Keene State College with a degree in Environmental Studies in May 2011. She was a four-year member of the Keene State volleyball team and captain for the last two seasons. Her Owls won the 2010 ECAC Tournament for the first time in school history.  Brianna is a freshman at the University of Connecticut, where she plays for the Huskies volleyball team. As a senior at Oyster River High School, she was named the 2010 Division II Player of the Year for the second straight season after serving as the star libero and helping the Bobcats claim their first state championship since 1996.

Goodspeed is a native of Kohler, Wis.

Ed Datti completed his 31st year with the program, 29th as a full-time coach, in 2011-12. The associate head coach is known as one of the top assistants nationally. In 2012, he was named the EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year (with Jess Kelley) and the NCAA Northeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year (with Kelley).

Previously, he was the recipient of the 2010 EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year. He received the 2008 NCAA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year award, an honor he also garnered in 1994. He was also recognized five times as co-recipient of that award (1991, ’97, 2001, ’03, ‘06).

Datti is highly respected by his colleagues for his skills as a strong technical coach and outstanding spotter. UNH head coach Gail Goodspeed states: “Obviously, I am a little biased, but Ed is one of the best spotters in the nation. He can anticipate when a gymnast is in need of assistance and can react faster than seems possible. He also has the unique ability of knowing exactly how much assistance is needed. A great balance is created with his technical expertise and spotting ability to help all of our team members continue to improve and upgrade their skills.”

At UNH, Datti is responsible for the majority of the recruiting and continues to bring top gymnasts to the UNH campus. He is the director of a highly successful summer camp and initiated a community class program. Datti also co-teaches a movement and gymnastics exploration class for the kinesiology department with assistant coach Jessica Kelley.

Datti is the former owner and head coach of the Montvale School of Gymnastics in Woburn, Mass. This was one of the first private gymnastics schools in Massachusetts and he coached several top USGF gymnasts during the 10 years of operating the club. Before his Montvale affiliation, Datti taught at Saxonville Elementary School in Framingham (Mass.) and coached the Framingham South High School girls gymnastics team.

A 1971 graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College, Datti was a four-year competitor on the gymnastics squad. In his senior year, he was team captain and earned All-America honors in floor exercise. He is originally from Framingham, Mass.

Jess Kelley, a former gymnast at the University of California, Berkeley, joined the Wildcat coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2011-12 after serving two seasons as an assistant at her alma mater.

Kelley was named the 2012 EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year (with Ed Datti) and the 2012 NCAA Northeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year (with Datti) in her first season.

During her two seasons coaching at Cal, Kelley had experience coaching all four events. In 2010-11, her primary responsibilities were on vault and uneven bars, while she focused on beam and floor during the '09-10 campaign, including assignments and lineups. She  coached choreography for two seasons, and other duties included recruiting, fundraising, video and music editing and meet preparation.

The 2006 Rookie of the Year and 2007 Team MVP transitioned into a coaching role during the 2009 campaign after sustaining a season-ending injury following the first meet of the year. She chose to stay with the team and help out as a student assistant for the remainder of what should have been her senior season of competition. After graduating in December 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies, Kelley officially became an assistant coach.

Kelley was a two-time West Regional participant during her Cal career, competing in the All-Around at Regionals in both 2007 and 2008. She just missed qualifying for the NCAA National Championships her junior year by .05. She is in the Cal record books for earning a 9.9 on beam in 2007 and a 9.875 on her floor routine during the 2008 season.

Previously, Kelley competed with Airborne Gymnastics (1996-2005) in Santa Clara, Calif.

Kelley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cal. She majored in American Studies with an emphasis in organizations in the American Workplace.

Chelsea Steinberg, a graduate student at UNH studying occupational therapy, is in her first season as the gymnastics team's student volunteer assistant coach. Chelsea was a four-year performer for the Wildcats, earning an EAGL Championship first-place performance on beam in 2009 and a fourth-place all-around performance at NCAA Regionals in 2010, nearly qualifying her to NCAA Nationals.

She was an Academic All-American all four years and, in 2011, was named EAGL All-Tournament First Team on beam, floor and all-around and All-Tournament Second Team on vault. Chelsea was a senior co-captain for the 2011 season and was named Team MVP in 2010 and 2011. She capped her illustrious career ranked seventh in University history with 1,531.2 points.

Chelsea had personal bests of 9.9 on vault, 9.75 on bars, 9.875 on beam, 9.9 on floor and 39.35 in the all-around.

Prior to attending UNH, the Ridgewood, N.J. native was coached by Joao Ribeiro and Suzanne Lotz at U.S Gymnastics Development Center in Mahwah, N.J. and graduated from Ridgewood High School.