Youth Climbing Article #5 Part 1 - Kyle Clinkscales of Team Texas

Kyle Clinkscales

Team Texas

Thirty-seven year old Kyle Clinkscales is one of the longest running and most successful youth climbing coaches in the world. Since 1996 he has been coaching kids out of the Dallas, Texas gyms Exposure and Summit Climbing, as well as other kids from around the country as a USA Climbing National Team Coach. Members of his sprawling Team Texas (you’ll know them by the longhorn skull on their white team van) can be seen year-round at competitions and outdoor climbing areas around the country and the world. Kyle’s friendly, psyched and supportive demeanor makes him infinitely approachable, and the results of his training can be seen in the successes of Team Texas climbers and alumni—a group that includes one of the best female boulderers in the world: Alex Puccio.

Read on for part 1 of this interview to learn about how Kyle got started and how he approaches running a team of such scope and ability.

A Few Stats on Kyle:

~ Taken the team climbing outside for more than two and half months of the year for more than ten years.

~ Team Texas has climbed at more than twenty crags OUTSIDE of Texas: from Smith Rock to Rumney…from Hueco to Font. 

~ First USA Climbing U.S. Team Head Coach (Italy, 1999)

~ Served as U.S. National Team Head Coach (1999-2007)

~ More climbers on the U.S. Team than any other coach in the country

~ More climbers as Continental, Pan-American, and World Champions than any other coach in the country.

~ Team Texas has won eight of the last nine Youth Team SCS National Championships and placed top three, at three of the last four ABS Youth Team National Championships 

Kyle with the President of Ecuador at Continentals. 

CFH: Let’s start with the basics. How did you get started climbing? 

KC: Good story. It was 1993, and I was in Lake City, Colorado with some family friends. My buddy and I were 18 years old and we wanted to climb the cliffs that were right by our cabin. We decided to be safe [ed. what follows is not safe at all. DO NOT try this method yourself] and we went into the hardware store and bought two 50-foot, 7-mil twine hemp ropes and tied them together with overhand knots. And since I was the lightest, he hip-belayed me from the top of the wall. Luckily we didn’t die, and a love of rock climbing was born. 

CFH: You ARE lucky that you didn’t die.  So how did you get started coaching? 

KC: In my earliest memories I wanted to be a coach; Vince Lombardi fascinated me. When I was eleven or twelve I set up a football “camp” for all the kids on my block (which was like five) and taught them proper techniques, which seems pretty funny looking back on it now. 

 Kyle helps his kids with life as well as climbing. 

CFH: Did you know “proper techniques” yourself, or were you just shooting from the hip?

KC: I didn’t know anything, other than I wanted to be a coach and this camp was an opportunity to do that. I still remember what my dad said to me the night before it started. I was whining and complaining; doubting myself and my abilities. He gave me the best advice I’ve ever gotten and have ever given, “No one cares how much you know til they know how much you care.” 

CFH: And how did you learn to coach climbing?

KC: From the second best advice he gave me, “Fake it til you make it!”

CFH: How did your first season go? 

KC: In my first season (1996) I was coaching one climber, and she won her category, but that was back when there were five Nationals across the country in ASCF Juniors. The next year was 1997—the first year of JCCA—and I had a few kids participating at Regionals but we decided not to go to Nationals in Michigan because we had an outdoor climbing trip planned. By the time 1998 rolled around I was involved in the operation of the organization and attended Nationals and Worlds from then on. 

CFH: How many kids did you have on your team then? How many do you have now? What was your biggest year so far?  

KC: Then, I had six kids on the team, and now I have fifty and I’ve capped it at fifty for the last six years.

Team Texas representing at SCS Youth Nationals 2008 in Sunnyvale, CA

CFH: Do you personally coach all 50 yourself? How does that work on a day-to-day basis?

KC: I do. Two different groups (A and B team) Monday Wednesday at one gym and two different groups Tuesday Thursday at the other gym. Everyone on Fridays. Our ratio of climbers to coach almost never exceeds 1 to 6.

CFH: So Alex “The Pooch” Puccio, Audrey “Judo” Garwych and Ryan “Future” Roden are Team Texas Alumni. Do all your kids have nicknames? 

KC: No but I wish they did. I will say the ones that have them unfortunately have them for life. Like the Pooch. Pretty much sucks for her (though she’s really sweet about it) that to this day when I see her she’s The Pooch. Not Alex “the best female boulderer in the world” Puccio…nope, to me she’s just The Pooch Puccio. : ) 

For more: Team Texas’ Website

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of Kyle’s interview. For more from the series click “Youth Coaching Articles” in the top menu and read about youth coaching and theory from Tyson Schoene, Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou, Obe Carrion, and Eric Hörst.