Sam Buchalter Named New Assistant Gymnastics Coach
6/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
June 20, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State gymnastics team hired Sam Buchalter as its new assistant coach, head coach Kathie Klages announced. Buchalter joins Klages and assistant coach Elisabeth Forshier on the MSU staff with 19 years of coaching experience, including seven years as the team coach at the Twistars Gymnastics Club in Lansing.
"I am really excited to join the MSU staff," Buchalter stated of his new appointment. "I have had several former athletes compete at Michigan State, and I am ready to help Kathie take the program to the next level."
A Michigan native, Buchalter has been around gymnastics since the age of three, when he accompanied his mother, Michigan High School Hall of Fame member Alice Buchalter, to the gym where she coached girls' gymnastics at Freeland High School.
Buchalter joined the staff of Twistars in 1997, after spending three years overseas as a member of the Finnish Gymnastics Federation staff, working with the Junior National Team. Prior to his appointment in Finland, Buchalter served as the team coach for Freeland Gymnastics from 1984 to 1994. Over his career, Buchalter has coached numerous junior Olympic and national champions.
Buchalter graduated from Saginaw Valley State University in 1994 with a degree in history, before pursuing a law degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. A member of the State Bar of Michigan, Buchalter worked as a corporate attorney in the Lansing area while coaching at Twistars.
"Sam will bring a wealth of coaching experience to Michigan State," Klages stated. "He has wonderful connections within Region Five and that will greatly enhance our recruiting. I am very excited to have him on board."