Head Over Heels Athletic Arts (HOH) welcomes the vice president of the Northern California Gymnastics Judges Association and regional technical director of the National Gymnastics Judges Association Michael Ashe to its coaching staff. Michael, whom also serves as the state technical director of the Northern California Boys Gymnastics Association, is the new head coach for HOH’s competitive gymnastics boys’ team.
During his competitive career Michael’s accomplishments include:
- Won 2nd place All Around and 1st place on pommel horse at the 1997 Northwest Open in Liverpool, Great Britain
- The top-ranked Junior National Team member under 18 at the USA Championships
- Member of the 1st place team at the 1999 Pontiac International Team Championships (US vs. China vs. Romania)
- Member of the Senior Pan American Games team that won the silver medal at the 1999 games in Winnipeg, Canada
- Won 2nd All Around at the 1999 Junior Olympic National Championships and won 1st place in pommel horse and high bar
- Won All Around in the 1999 USA Championships in the 16 to 18 year old division
- High bar National Champion in 2000 and 2001
Michael was on the road to Olympic trials in 2000 when an illness took him out of training.
In 2003 Michael began coaching and he is currently a member of the junior and senior national teams coaching staff. To date, ten of his athletes have gone on to collegiate gymnastics, many awarded scholarships. Many more of Michael’s athletes have gone on to receive scholarships in other competitive sports including diving, track, snowboarding, and dancing. Michael was honored in 2006 as the NorCal Coach of the Year. In 2013 he was honored by the National Gymnastics Judges Association as the National Judge of the Year.
Michael’s devotion to the sport of gymnastics and his athletes keeps him quite busy. Due to his knowledge of the sport Michael is asked to judge at competitions internationally. In his limited free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and family, reading, and sampling new restaurants.