Plocki Adds Harden to 2023-24 Staff
7/5/2023 1:00:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan's women's gymnastics head coach Bev Plocki announced the completion of her 2023-24 staff with the hiring of Cali Harden as an assistant coach.
Harden comes to Michigan after spending the last year as a graduate student coach at Eastern Michigan as well as a student-athlete support services graduate assistant. She also spent five years as a gymnast at EMU, helping lead the team to a Mid-American Conference Championship in 2021.
"We are really looking forward to the addition of Cali to our staff," said Plocki. "She is very passionate about coaching collegiate gymnastics and has a really bright future in the sport. She has added another dimension to our staff."
As a graduate student coach at Eastern, Harden helped coach all four events and assisted in the creation of individualized practice assignments on each event. She also assisted in creating the team's conditioning regimen, working with athletes on the road with academic responsibilities and organizing and facilitating team community service projects.
Harden also worked with student-athlete support services, as the academic counselor for women's gymnastics, women's tennis and football. In her role, Harden mentored student-athletes through helping create career development programs, assisted with tutoring, grade checks and semester schedules, served as the administrator of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and developed and maintained budgets for award shows. She also organized résumé and career readiness workshops for student-athletes and worked with the athletic department to create development opportunities.
Harden has coached at Gym America Gymnastics as well as spent time as a coach at both Eastern Michigan and Michigan summer camps.
During her time as a student-athlete, Harden was the community service chair for SAAC, was the vice president and captain for Athletes in Action, participated in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee and was a participant in both the NCAA Career in Sports Forum and The Program Seminar. Harden was awarded with the Go Teach Scholarship Presented by Dr. Pepper and the College Football Playoff Foundation for her pursual of a career in teaching or coaching.
Harden graduated with her undergraduate degree in general studies with a concentration in Early Childhood Development, Education Fundamentals and Liberal Studies from Eastern Michigan before going on to earn her masters in Educational Leadership, Higher Education/Student Affairs degree in 2023.
