Mark Freeman

Program Director and Head Coach

Mark Freeman entered his first season with SB Gymnastics and Stanford men's gymnastics in 2019 alongside Syque Caesar after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at California. 

The native of Manchester, England competed for Cal from 2004 to 2008 and was also a member of the Great Britain National Team. Mark made gymnastics history by becoming the first ever British gymnast to win a major international competition, earning the title Junior European Champion on the Still Rings at the European Championships in Patras, Greece. After this he made the transition into senior international gymnastics, representing Great Britain in various international competitions, including the 2002 and 2003 World Championship.

During his time in Berkeley, the Bears finished among the top five at the NCAA Championships on three occasions, and notched an MPSF conference title. Mark also coached the Golden Bears Club Team while he was still a student-athlete. 

After graduation, he continued his journey with gymnastics: performing, touring, and creating for the internationally recognized Cirque du Soleil for five years. 

In 2014 he finished performing for Cirque du Soleil to pursue another aspiration: the creation of an international fitness and movement consultancy, Freeman Technique LLC. He has developed programming as well as provided clinics for more than 1000 clients and 100 facilities across many athletic disciplines. His company currently partners with Biometric Innovative Options, a physical therapy facility, playing an integral role to the success of the injury prevention programs for tactical athletes within the Bay Area. 

Mark is excited to continue his passion for the sport and help the boys of SB Gymnastics excel at all levels. 

Syque Caesar

Team Coach

Syque Caesar joined Stanford and SB Gymnastics in the summer of 2015 as the SBG Program Director and Assistant Coach for the Stanford Men's Gymnastics Team alongside Karl Ziehn. 

Syque was a member of the University of Michigan Men's Gymnastics team from 2008-2014. During his tenure at Michigan, he was a 4-time team captain, 5-time NCAA All-American, and a member of the 2010, 2013, and 2014 NCAA Championship teams as well as the 2009, 2013, and 2014 Big Ten Conference Championship teams. Additionally Syque has international experience competing at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships as well as the 2012 London Olympic Games representing the country of Bangladesh. Syque earned his bachelor's degree in communication studies in 2013 and graduated with a master's in sport management in 2014.

After completing an illustrious career as an athlete, Syque joined the University of Michigan coaching staff as Program Administrative Assistant during the 2014-15 NCAA competitive season.  Syque is excited to continue his passion for the sport and help the boys of SB Gymnastics excel at all levels. 

Nate Barton

Team Coach

Coach Nathanael is primarily responsible for levels 5 - 8 of the SBG team, he is program director over the SB Recreational Program, and has over 8 1/2 years experience coaching gymnastics. He was raised in Oklahoma City where he competed in gymnastics through level 10. After retiring from competitive gymnastics himself, he continued coaching gymnastics at Victory Athletics in Norman, OK for 6 1/2 years before moving to California, where he coached at Rising Stars Gymnastics in Monterey. Alongside gymnastics, he is also a musician and began playing violin at age 7, and by 15 found his passion for guitar. With over 13 years experience playing guitar, he also teaches guitar as a hobby.

Jivco Jetchev

Team Coach

Jivco has over 30 years of coaching experience and coached the Bulgarian National Team from 1980 to 1992. He worked at Top Flight Gymnastics from 1992 - 2003 where he coached standout Stanford Alum, Greg Ter-Zakhariants.

Jivco later opened and operated a gym for 15 years before working part-time at Demaray's Gymnastics for the last year. Jivco will be working primarily with the Level 6, 7 & 8 groups as well as takeover the Future Stars Program for our club. Jivco will also be taking on the role of managing the recreational department and in charge of physical preparation, education and the curriculum for the Recreational department to team transitions.

Elijah Wax

Team Coach & Recreational Instructor

Coach Elijah is the newest member of our staff and works with our Level 4 team as well as our recreational program. Elijah, a Palo Alto native, has a strong background in breakdancing and fitness. Elijah, a regular attendee of the adule open gym classes on Tuesday and Thursday evening, found that many gymnastics elements and techniques helped his own development as a B-boy. Elijah studied at Seattle Central College and uses his enthusiasm to cultivate a motivating atmosphere for his students.

Thom Glielmi

Team Coach

The 2019-20 season will be Thom Glielmi's 18th as head coach of Stanford men's gymnastics.

Glielmi most recently guided the Cardinal to the 2019 NCAA national championship, running his total to three after capturing the title in 2009 and 2011. Glielmi has established the Cardinal as a perennial national contender, leading Stanford to top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships in each of the last 14 seasons.

Named the 2009, 2011 and 2019 National Coach of the Year, Glielmi is a three-time NCAA West Region Head Coach of the Year (2006, 2007, 2009) and was named 2019 U.S. Senior Coach of the Year at the U.S. Championships. Since his debut season on The Farm in 2003, Glielmi has mentored 22 NCAA Champions, 146 All-Americans and three Nissen-Emery Award recipients (Akash Modi in 2017, Eddie Penev in 2013, Dan Gill in 2004).

Prior to taking over the men's team at Stanford, Glielmi spent three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota and guided the team to a No. 7 finish during his last season in Minnesota. While with the Golden Gophers, Glielmi was named the 2000-01 NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year after coaching the 2001 NCAA pommel horse and floor exercise champion. Glielmi has produced NCAA national champions on vault, rings, pommel horse, floor exercise and horizontal bar.

A USA Senior National Team Coach for ten years, Glielmi was a member of the 2006 and 2007 USA World Championships Team Coaching Staff. As head coach of the 2003 USA Pan American team he lead them to a bronze medal-winning competition. Additionally, he was part of the 2000 USA Olympic Team coaching staff.

Prior to coaching at Minnesota, he was the owner and head men's gymnastics coach of the International Sports Center in Matthews, N.C. There he founded and progressed his team toward many JO National Titles and Jr. National Team spots. A 1988 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Glielmi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.