Monday, May 11, 2015

Larry Colburn - a passion for gymnastics

Gymnastics has been around for thousands of years, and has come a long way since being banned in 393 AD by Theodosius, a Roman Emperor, because it was believed to cause corruption. It is synonymous in the U.S. with names like Mary-Lou Retton, Nadia Comaneci, and Bart Conner.

In Johnson County, gymnastics got its start in 1969 at Shawnee Mission East High School as an
Larry Colburn spotting a gymnast
intramural sport, led by a coach who was a gymnast when he was in high school. His name – Larry Colburn. Larry has been referred to as the ‘Father of Gymnasts’ in Johnson County.
  He led gymnastic demonstrations at places like Metcalf South Shopping Center to draw attention to the sport. Larry also started age group gymnastic classes through Johnson County Parks and Recreation, including the well-known Kansas Kips. “A kip is a quick movement in gymnastics,” Larry said. “Hank Stram’s wife came up with the name.”

Larry credits his own gymnastics teacher, L.R. “Dad” Perry with setting him on a path that has brought him multiple awards. Under Perry's tutelage, Larry was a gymnast and pole vaulter at Lawrence (KS) High School. At KU, Larry was a gymnast and Yell leader, and one year was the Jayhawk mascot during football season.

He had already met his future wife, who lived a couple of blocks away from him growing up. “She was two years younger than me,” Larry said of the girl named Gini. “I knew who she was. She knew who I was.” They began dating the summer after Larry had graduated, when Larry needed a date for a movie. “She was the first one I thought of,” Larry said, “and I called her. On our second date, we played tennis. She wore a pink outfit she had made.”

They dated throughout college, while Larry earned degrees in physical education and biology and a master’s degree in secondary school administration, and Gini earned a teaching degree in English. Larry had started out wanting to be an architect, but said he discovered that “I have some artistic talent but not any creativity.” His dad had been a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, so teaching was something Larry understood and he switched majors. Larry and Gini married in 1967 and moved to Elkhart, Indiana, where Larry was hired to teach physical education and coach gymnasts and pole vault.

A couple of years later, they returned to Johnson County. Larry got a job teaching physical education and coaching track at Shawnee Mission East. Gini taught English at the newly opened Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, making her one of the teachers hired for the first year the school was open.
Larry Colburn, back row, far right,
2nd year of coaching in Elkhart, Indiana

When Larry started an intramural gymnastics class, he said that 40 kids were coming regularly. That’s what caught the attention of the athletic director, a man Larry knew well, and is why gymnastics was added to the curriculum as a regular sport.

During this time, Larry coached boys’ gymnastics. His teams placed five times in the top five, and were Kansas State Champions in 1978. Twelve of those males were chosen as high school gymnastics All-Americans, and three were state champions.
'72-'73 Third in State

While he was in high school, Larry twisted his knee, tearing cartilage. He started running cross country to build up his knee, but it continued to bother him. As a gymnastics coach, he eventually tore muscles in his shoulders from spotting and lifting so many kids. He decided it was time to take a break, in part so he could heal, in part so he could make a better living, but mostly because he had two children of his own. “I realized I was spending more time with everyone else’s kids than I did with my own,” Larry said. So in 1979 he took a desk job at Hallmark, in the scheduling department.

To go from a career where you’re physically active most of the time to a desk job is quite a shock to the system, as Larry discovered. But it allowed him time to coach his kids’ sports, to join the family for dinners, and for his body to begin healing.  Eventually Larry changed jobs again, taking a position in 1985 in sales for Uarco Business Forms, where he won the company’s Quinnquillian Award for five consecutive years of quota sales.

Kyle Englekren
But coaching was calling Larry back. It was 1995, and Larry took stock of his life. His kids were grown, college was paid for. “And I thought, why am I doing this?” Larry said. “I want to go back and do what I have a passion for.”

In the fall of 1995, Larry returned to coaching, first at Shawnee Mission North, next at Shawnee Mission Northwest. He transferred back to Shawnee Mission East in 1998. He coached both boys and girls pole vaulting, and his athletes placed 10 times in the top five at the State meet, including two state champions. Erin Wesley vaulted 12 feet, setting the State 6A mark, and Kyle Englekren cleared 15 feet.

Larry Colburn, second row, far left
with girls team 6th in State
Since boys gymnastics had been dropped as a sport in Kansas, Larry became the coach for girls gymnastics. His teams placed fifth, fourth, and third two times, then placed second in the 2006-2007 season. Eight girls were chosen high school gymnastics All Americans, and two were state champions.

Larry himself was twice selected for the L.R. “Dad” Perry Award for contribution to the sport of gymnastics by the Kansas Gymnastics Association. “To receive such an award was really meaningful for me,” Larry said. “He was my mentor.” Larry was selected KGA Gymnastics Coach of the Year in 1972, 1979, 2001 and 2006. The Kansas Coaches Association named Larry Coach of the Year in Kansas in 2001 and 2006. The 2006 award was also recognized by the National Coaches Association.

Larry is quick to credit his wife’s support in helping him excel, as well as the athletes he coached. “I feel a little funny about this,” Larry said about sharing his story, “as any success I have achieved is because I was blessed to have a number of talented athletes to work with. And, I need to add, a ‘coaches’ wife’ that was very understanding.”
Colburn family photo
Larry & Gini Colburn, back row, left

But all the physical exertion involved in coaching was taking its toll. “My body was just giving out,” Larry said. “I was no longer effective as a spotter.” In addition, Larry had broken his ankle in 1995 when he jumped off a wall while painting a neighbor’s house and landed wrong.

His ankle hadn’t healed correctly, and the added pressure of coaching continued to weaken it over the next years. “I was in constant pain,” Larry said, “and it was changing my personality. I was becoming curt.”

Larry finally retired in the spring of 2007, but continued coaching pole vaulting.  His ankle still gave him trouble, so he eventually went to another doctor. “He said you shouldn’t be walking on this, let alone coaching on it,” Larry said. Part of the bone had died, and all the doctor could offer was to freeze his ankle in place. Then in 2009, a new procedure became available. It was designed by a Swedish Lutheran doctor and was called STAR, Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacement. It’s the only three-piece mobile bearing total ankle available in the United States. In 2011, there were only four doctors in this country that could perform the surgery, and one of them was an orthopedic surgeon in Kansas City. Larry had the surgery in 2011, and it was successful in restoring movement without pain.

Coach Colburn and Alex Erpelding
Larry coached pole vaulting through the end of the 2014 season, and has continued his interest in gymnastics as a judge in state competitions. Besides his coaching skills, Larry has shared his tenor singing voice with a men’s quartet, the church choir, and the Heart of America Chorus. “I sang at a lot of weddings and funerals as I grew up,” Larry said.


All the awards that Larry and his athletes have received are testament to his coaching ability. So too are the Christmas cards and letters Larry receives from former athletes. Looking back, Larry said, “I wish I would have been a better athlete myself. I always told my students that if they aspired to my level of accomplishment, we weren’t going to be very good.” 

What's your story?

If you have a story idea, please send it to sherriarmel@holycross-elca.org.