Roger Counsil
Roger L. Counsil (born January 11, 1935 in Wood River, Illinois) was one of the most successful gymnastics coaches in the United States and headed the United States Gymnastics Federation, now known as USA Gymnastics.
In his 17 years of coaching at Indiana State University, Counsil's teams produced 46 All-Americans and his team won the 1977 NCAA Division I championship.
Named Olympic coach for the U.S.-boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics, Counsil also held several other prestigious positions. These included chairman of the NCAA Gymnastics Committee, men's coach for the U. S. team in the 1978 World Games, host coach for the 1975 NCAA National Championships in Terre Haute, National "Coach of the Year" and four-time recipient of Mideast "Coach of the Year" honors, and Executive Director of the USA Gymnastics, a position he assumed after leaving ISU in February, 1980.
He was a standout athlete at Southern Illinois University, where he excelled in track, swimming and gymnastics. He was the NAIA 1-meter diving champion in 1957, the same year he was named "Most Valuable Athlete" at SIU. In addition to his bachelor's degree, he also earned his Master's from SIU and completed his doctorate in Higher Education Administration at Indiana University.
Among the outstanding individuals Counsil coached were former Sycamore great Kurt Thomas and Dave Seal, another ISU Hall of Fame member.
In 1985, he was inducted into both the Indiana State University and Southern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame.[1] On 8 Aug 2014, he was selected as Institutional Great by the Missouri Valley Conference and will be inducted into the Conference Hall of Fame.[2]