Sam Welbourn - Gymnastics Coach - University of Georgia Athletics

Sam Welbourn

Title:
Interim Assistant Coach

Sam Welbourn was named gymnastics assistant coach after serving with an interim title throughout the 2023 season.

In his first season with the GymDogs, Welbourn assisted the team to a top-20 finish and an NQS of 196.955 heading into NCAA Regionals. Five GymDogs received All-SEC honors, which is the most since 2016 and Soraya Hawthorne was named a WCGA All-American, the first GymDog since 2020.

Under Welbourn’s direction, Georgia’s vault squad finished in the top-20. With a 9.950 start value, freshman Naya Howard scored a near-perfect 9.925 at Auburn.

A former gymnast himself, Welbourn joined the Georgia staff after working at Georgia Elite Gymnastics where he served as a Level 10 bars and vault coach. During the 2022 season, Georgia Elite had the second-highest amount of gymnasts attend nationals (15), had a pair of national all-around champions, two national bars champions and the highest number of top-10 finishes of anyone in the country.

In addition, Welbourn assisted with the Elite program that had a gymnast qualify for the Hopes Championship in Salt Lake City, while the team also won Region 8 Club of the Year.

Prior to his time with Georgia Elite, Welbourn served as head coach at Georgia Gymnastics Academy, where he was the bar and vault technician for team level kids age 6-10. He helped four gymnasts become collegiate athletes during his time there.

Welbourn started his career by coaching boys gymnastics in the United Kingdom and competed as a gymnast for the Great Britain National Team. He also performed with Cirque Du Soleil in Las Vegas, specializing in acrobatics and high diving.