Bears Add Experienced Elite Coach
BERKELEY – California women’s gymnastics co-head coaches Elisabeth Crandall-Howell and Justin Howell announced the addition of assistant coach Seth Helland to the Golden Bears’ staff on Thursday.
“We are incredibly excited for Seth to join the Cal Gymnastics family,” Crandall-Howell said. “His experience coaching at the highest levels of the sport will be a great asset in helping the team continue climbing toward a national championship. Seth’s positivity, passion for the sport, and the enthusiasm that he brings to each day will be a wonderful addition to the program and the Cal community.”
Helland comes to Cal with a wealth of knowledge and experience as a former elite, club, and NCAA gymnastics coach. He has spent the last five years as an elite and Level 10 coach for Twin City Twisters in Minnesota where he served in a myriad of roles, including the club’s lead elite vault coach and assistant elite bars and floor coach. Helland was also the club’s lead Level 10 vault and bars coach, and primary spotter for both the elite and Level 10 teams.
With Helland’s help, Twin City Twisters had success at the national level with the top team vault score at the 2024 USAG Developmental Program Nationals and the top team bars score in 2023. He has helped shape countless individual careers as well, including a USA world team member, two 2024 Level 10 national all-around champions, numerous national team members and the 2024 Nastia Liukin Cup senior champion.
“Joining the Cal gymnastics coaching staff is an incredible honor,” Helland said. “Justin and Liz have created a legacy of excellence with this program and I am so excited to be a part of their culture that allows athletes to reach their fullest potential both inside and outside of the gym. I felt right at home during my campus visit and my family and I are thrilled for this new chapter. Go Bears!”
Prior to his club days, Helland spent two years as the assistant coach for the University of Wisconsin-Stout where he helped lead the team to its first conference championship in program history and a national runner-up finish at the 2019 NCGA Championship. Along the way, the Blue Devils broke the program’s team, vault, and bars scoring records. He earned the university’s Coach of the Year award in 2019.
Helland’s coaching career started at his alma mater, Brainerd High School (Brainerd, Minnesota) where he spent three years as the school’s head coach and four more as an assistant. He received his associate of arts degree from Central Lakes College in 2011.