As the Penn State women's gymnastics team enters its practice facility, a stocky man sporting a goatee and a shaved head can be found greeting the gymnasts and helping them stretch and crack their backs.

While smiling and carrying on a conversation with the gymnasts, he resembles a caring father.

Steve Shephard has built a successful program at Penn State while maintaining a very friendly and caring atmosphere.

"He is very caring," senior Nikki Bongiovanni said. "He is understanding and interested in more about his athletes than just gymnastics."

Shephard, who is in his 11th season coaching at Penn State, achieved success at an early age. Competing in the floor exercise, vault and trampoline at Hinsdale H.S. in Illinois, Shephard was a part of two high school national championship teams. He also was a member of state championship teams from 1969-1973. After a successful high school career, Shephard decided to continue gymnastics at Southern Illinois University. However, when he was a freshman, he would experience a devastating moment that would be the motivating factor for him to make a career out of gymnastics.

"My best friend [Gary Morava], who I idolized, was a senior, and he died doing gymnastics," Shephard said. "He broke his neck. At the funeral I decided I would dedicate my life to gymnastics and my career would be dedicated to his memory to try to make gymnastics safer and a more positive experience."

Since that moment, Shephard has never looked back. In fact, he was a member of the 1975 Saluki team that placed third at the NCAA Championships. In 1980, the 24-year-old went on to become the coach of the men's gymnastics team at Ball State University in Indiana. After earning his master's degree in physical education in 1983, Ball State dropped the men's gymnastics program. Luckily, during that time Shephard had been the director of the Woodward Gymnastics camp in Woodward for Ed Isabelle. After he was out of a job, Shephard asked Isabelle if he would sell him his gymnastics school even though he didn't have any money. Isabelle did and supplied the funds needed for Nittany Gymnastics. After owning and operating the school for six years, Shephard decided he needed a career change.

"I was constantly working and I was not making that much money and the business was overwhelming," Shephard said. "So I decided to go back to school and pursue clinical psychology/counselor education."

After being accepted into Penn State in 1989, the assistant coaching position for the women's gymnastics team opened up that summer. Shephard said that if he was going to go to school there, he might as well try to coach and get a discount on his tuition.

"I got the assistant coaching position and continued to go to school and pursue my second masters degree in hopes of getting my Ph.D.," he said.

Under head coach Judi Avener, Shephard earned Assistant Coach-of-the-Year honors in the Northeast and helped the Nittany Lions to two Atlantic 10 Conference championships and fifth- and fourth-place finishes at the NCAA championships. After the 1992 season, Avener took the head coaching position at the University of Florida and Shephard was named the eighth women's gymnastics coach at Penn State.

Including this season, Shephard has compiled a 142-102 overall record at Penn State with his best year occurring in 2000 when the Nittany Lions placed seventh in the nation.

"He does a good job of helping the girls learn what it is like to be on a team and be a team player," Bongiovanni said. While forming a team-oriented atmosphere, Shephard has also coached a handful of standout gymnasts that include Tracy Kerner, Missy Leopoldus, Ellen Casey, Nikki Smith, Gemma Cuff, and current gymnast Katie Rowland.

"We have enjoyed a lot of success with our program here," he said. "It has been a lot of fun working with all of the different athletes over the years and going to the National Championships."

Rowland, a senior, said Shephard is a great motivator and wants what is best for the gymnasts and the team.

"I really like his coaching style," she said. "Day in and day out he has a positive attitude and is always encouraging us to strive for our goals. He fine-tuned everything I have and has taught me even harder skills." However, coaching does not just stay in the gym. Shephard brings it home to his wife Debbie and their two sons, Taylor and Sam.

"It is not the kind of job that you leave at the office," he said. "It is with you all the time and you are always thinking about the student athletes and their well-being." Shephard said that being a coach is very rewarding and is something that he will continue to do until he is physically unable to.

"The most fulfilling part of the job is sharing the success and sharing the lives of tremendously talented people," he said. "All of these student-athletes are very special. It is a lot of fun to help guide them through their college experience."

With that in mind, the friendly and caring Shephard will continue to lead a successful program that he hopes will compete for a national title in the near future.