What do you do when you have two dreams? Oftentimes, one is sacrificed for the sustainability of the other. But for Stephanie Geislinger, the best of both worlds really is possible. Geislinger, née Wojton, competed college gymnastics for Winona State, graduating in 2013. Immediately after, she pursued her first passion for a career in physical therapy, finishing graduate school and acquiring a job working with athletes.
During her first physical therapy job, she helped rehab gymnasts, cheerleaders and dancers from various injuries, helping them return to the sports they loved. That was one of the reasons Geislinger chose to enter the PT field in the first place. She pointed toward her time in physical therapy as an athlete as her driving force to entering the profession for herself, stating “I just found [my physical therapist] to be someone who really inspired me to get back into the sport again, to take an injury as it comes and continue to work through it and be motivated. I really enjoyed my time in physical therapy, and I just wanted to be that person for someone else one day.”
After her husband finished his postgraduate education, the couple moved back to where it all began in Winona, allowing for the opportunity to join the college’s gymnastics staff as an assistant while continuing her work as a physical therapist full time. During this period, a new fire was lit. Geislinger realized the passion she had for supporting student athletes did not end with injury prevention and rehabilitation. Instead, she felt the urge to broaden her horizons to include the title of coach along with doctor. So when her alma mater’s head coaching job opened up in 2021, Geislinger gave it a shot. What did she have to lose?
The hiring process turned out in her favor as she was awarded the position that August. “It’s almost like it was meant to be.”
Since then, Geislinger’s days have been jam-packed with action. When asked what her day-to-day life looks like now, Geislinger noted that she works in outpatient physical therapy in the morning, treating various athletes in the Winona community. Next, she transitions over to campus, hosting practice, having meetings and performing any other coaching duties. Lastly, she makes her way home to spend time with her family, including her daughter, before sending out any necessary recruiting messages or emails. While the days are busy, especially during meet season, Geislinger prides herself on giving 100% to everything she does. Whether it’s for her patients, athletes, family or friends, Geislinger never gives less than her very best.
She credits Winona Health’s flexibility with her schedule for allowing her the time to be both the best physical therapist and best gymnastics coach she can be.
As a new head coach, it can be challenging to get buy-in from every athlete due to so many changes, so creating a strong team culture at Winona State has been Geislinger’s primary goal since taking the role. When asked what the ideal team culture looked like to her, coach Geislinger stressed the importance of creating a positive environment in the gym. Her goal is for her student-athletes to work together as a team, “inspiring each other to be better everyday.” Overall, she wants her student-athletes to have a well-rounded experience in the Winona State program, athletically and academically, “because the lessons you learn while you’re a student athlete apply tremendously postgrad and into the working world.”
With her emphasis on building team culture, it’s no surprise that her favorite team memory as the Warriors’ head coach came when the team put together a stunning beam rotation and improved its team total by four points. “It was just really fun for the girls to finally feel the success that I was dreaming for them, and for them to buy into the culture that I’m trying to bring to our program.”
Although gymnastics coach and physical therapist may not seem to be similar career paths, the benefits of the overlap are two-fold. In some ways, being a PT has made Geislinger a better coach, and being a coach has made her a better PT. For example, being a physical therapist has allowed Geislinger to implement some injury prevention exercises to the team’s warm up routine. She utilizes the knowledge she gained in graduate school to create conditioning plans that not only aim to make her athletes stronger, but to target exercises that reduce the likelihood of injury. Moreover, her education allows her to know when it’s okay to push her athletes and when it’s best to back off.
When heading back to the clinic, coaching provides Geislinger with a more complete understanding of the athletes she sees in the clinic, allowing her to tailor plans of care to each individual’s needs. She’s hopeful that the future is bright for the crossover between gymnastics and rehabilitation. “Some injuries are unpreventable, you just can’t prevent them. But there are several injuries that you can prevent. There has been a really big shift in prehab and rehab within the gymnastics world, which has been really fun to see.”
While it may be tempting to settle for one dream or another, or even avoid fighting for a dream at all, Dr. Stephanie Geislinger is proof that there’s nothing wrong with having more than one passion. For her, having passion for athletes has manifested itself in two ways, as a doctor of physical therapy and as a head gymnastics coach.
Ultimately what drew Geislinger to the world of physical therapy is the same thing that drew her toward gymnastics coaching—to inspire young athletes to be their best, both on the playing field and in life. It’s almost like it was meant to be.
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Article by Tavia Smith
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