Monroe Gymnasts Hold Tight to Sasvary’s Olympic Ideals

Last August, Les Sasvary was rating the top gymnasts in the world as a U.S. judge in the 1984 Olympic Games. It was his second time as an Olympic judge and his most satisfying, as he watched an American men’s team he had helped prepare win the gold medal.

A month later, the 52-year-old coach was back in the Monroe High gym, preparing the Vikings for what he hoped would be another championship season.

It is a Thursday afternoon practice in late May, several days before the City finals, and Sasvary is working with one of his Monroe gymnasts on the parallel bars. A short, muscular man, Sasvary stands on a platform next to the bars, giving patient commands in a thick Hungarian accent.

Brett Booth, a senior on the team, swings his feet toward the ceiling, twists in the air, switches hands from bar to bar, then steadies himself in a handstand. Sasvary smiles and claps. He quietly reassures Booth that all will go well at the upcoming championship meet.

“We have a reputation here, we have a great program and everybody wants to be part of the winning. It’s the American way.” Sasvary’s smile grows wider as he adds, “Once you build a winning program, as they say, success builds success.”

At last Tuesday night’s finals, Monroe rallied to win its fifth championship in the last six years. Under Sasvary, the Vikings’ total is nine, making Monroe the winningest high school gymnastics team in Los Angeles history.

The team was led by Bryan Herring, a senior who came back Thursday night to WIN/LOSE the city individual championship and take his place in a long line of Monroe Vikings who have dominated gymnastics in Los Angeles over the last decade.

Yet, when people talk about Monroe gymnastics, it is not the athletes they mention first, it is the coach.

Indeed, there may be no other high school gymnastics coach in the country who can claim to have been a former Olympian, an American judge at two world championships and two Olympic Games and the U.S. Gymnastics Federation official in charge of overseeing the selection and preparation of the 1984 men’s Olympic team.

Sasvary’s credentials are so impressive that many question why he remains at the high school level.

“I don’t know how to explain it. I guess I find it an extremely rewarding experience working with high school kids,” he says. “I’ve had offers from colleges, but I am content here. It’s the age group when you can really get your thoughts across and form an individual. I believe in building character.

“And I never give up on any kid. I treat everybody like he is a potential Olympian. As far as I am concerned, anybody can be a good gymnast. Anybody . . . if he has perseverance and a good coach.”

Laszlo Sasvary, born and raised in Eger, Hungary, a small town 100 miles outside Budapest, fell in love with gymnastics at age 13. Ten years and countless hours in the gym later, Sasvary’s dream came true when he earned a spot on Hungary’s Olympic squad as the youngest member of the team.

Then, shortly before the 1956 Olympic Games, rumor of a revolution against communist rule swept through Hungary. The situation with the Olympic team was tense. Hungarian officials decided to send only two gymnasts to the Games to compete. Sasvary was told he would stay home.

Several months later, a student protest in Budapest touched off a national revolt. Soviet troops moved into the capital city. Aided by reinforcements from the Ukraine, the Red Army quashed the revolution.

Sasvary, disheartened at missing the Olympics and seeing his country in shambles around him, fled across the Austrian border, leaving behind family and friends. He made his way to the United States.

“I wanted to build a new life,” he said. “I wanted to be in the Olympics and I thought I could maybe make it in the United States.”

Sasvary enrolled in Youngstown University in Ohio and began his quest to make the U.S. Olympic team. He competed in national meets with some success, but for three years failed to finish among the nation’s very best gymnasts. After finishing 11th in the 1960 national championships, Sasvary gave up his dream of competing in the Olympics, directing his attention to coaching and judging.

The summer after graduating from Youngstown, he took a job with the Los Angeles Unified School District and began teaching physical education at Wilson High. Four years later, he was transferred to Monroe.

There were three losing seasons at first, as Sasvary struggled to build a program. At the same time, Sasvary was making a name for himself in judging--first in high schools and small colleges and later at major college and national meets.

His reputation grew worldwide as he was selected to judge at international meets and world championships. Sasvary said that his experience as a competitor helped him in judging. In turn, the judging made him a better coach.

“This is why I have great teams, because I know every phase of gymnastics.”

His athletes agree.

“With coach’s experience, you get viewpoints and different coaching techniques that are used not only in the U.S. but in other countries,” said Cameron Kramer, a senior and the No. 2 gymnast on this year’s team.

Booth said: “One of the reasons he’s a good coach is because he’s experienced so many things firsthand. By having that competitive experience and by judging the Olympics and seeing gymnasts all over the world, there are extra tricks he can give you.”

Opposing coaches, though, have a different opinion about why Monroe has won.

They talk of the great gymnasts who have gone to Monroe--including Steve Malis, who went on to win the Pacific-10 floor exercise championship at USC; Phil Gonzalez, an All-American at University of New Mexico, and, most recently, David Moriel, a freshman All-American at UCLA. As a senior at Monroe, Moriel made history by winning all seven events at the City individual championships.

Opposing coaches run down the list and, ultimately, the same word comes to their lips: recruitment.

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a talented coach,” said one of several coaches who agreed to talk only if their names were withheld. “But they’ve had a lot of guys from all over the place. We’ve had to work with the people we get.”

“The guy’s record tells you something,” another coach said. “He certainly has a lot of good people coming into his program.”

“It’s all jealousy,” said John Jones, coach at South Gate High and one of Sasvary’s best friends. “I’ve been coaching in L.A. City schools for 27 years and they all recruit. Everybody does it. Les has done nothing but win championships and I don’t think you can knock that.”

“I never recruited a kid in my life,” Sasvary said.

The athletes on this year’s team say they all live in the Monroe district--and did not move into the area to train with Sasvary.

If anything, they say, it is Sasvary’s and Monroe’s reputation in Southland gymnastics that attracts gymnasts. Herring, who grew up a few blocks from Monroe, said he heard about Viking gymnastics when he was in junior high school. In those days, Steve Robinson, a U.S. Gymnastics Federation Junior All-American, was at Monroe.

“Robinson was there and I had heard about the other guys.” Herring recalled. “At other schools, the coaches aren’t as well known. I always wanted to go to Monroe and be on the gymnastics team.”

Not counting his first three losing seasons, Sasvary’s teams have made it to the City finals in 14 of the last 16 years.

Sasvary the coach was satisfied. But Sasvary the judge had not yet reached his goal.

The moment of his greatest personal achievement came in 1972, when he was selected as a U.S. judge at the Olympic Games in Munich.

“When I finally made it to judge the 1972 Olympics, that was a big thing for me. I finally made it to the Olympics. I couldn’t do it as a competitor, so I had to do it as a judge. I was very proud.”

The national and international success continued. In 1978, Sasvary was elected vice president of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. While continuing to coach at Monroe, Sasvary was the administrator responsible for the men’s program nationwide from 1978 until 1983.

“He had a sizable involvement in shaping the programs and preparation for our teams that were involved in the Los Angeles Games,” said Mike Jacki, executive director of the federation.

After his term of office with the federation ended, Sasvary was selected to be an American judge at last summer’s Olympic Games.

In the fall, Sasvary returned to Monroe High.

“He could be a college coach easily,” said Art Shurlock, head coach at UCLA. “He’s a well-respected international judge, he knows his sport, knows the international scene and he’s produced a lot of excellent gymnasts.”

“He could be a college coach or a private coach. Sure, no problem,” said Frank Endo, a national-rated judge with the National Gymnastics Judges Assn., for which Sasvary served as president. “He is so knowledgeable. He apparently seems to like it where he is.”

Back at the Monroe gym, Sasvary shakes his head and smiles.

“I know I haven’t reached the big leagues in coaching. You have to go to a university and win an NCAA championship to do that.

“I just enjoy coaching high school; I don’t want to give it up.”

Another gymnast sprints by on his way to a tumbling move. Sasvary jumps up from his chair.

“Watch the take-off!”