COACH OF THE YEAR — Prior Lake High School head gymnastics coach Patrick Kloeckner recently was selected as the 2023 Minnesota State High School League’s Class AA Coach of the year. Kloeckner is a 2010 Fairmont High School graduate. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Kloeckner)

SHAKOPEE — The years of hard work and a dedication to his craft helped Patrick Kloeckner earn the 2023 Minnesota State High School League’s Class AA Gymnastics Coach of the Year honors.

“It’s nice to be recognized by my peers,” said Kloeckner, a 2010 Fairmont High School graduate.

He was first named as section coach of the year before competing against all of the other sectional winners to earn the distinction as the state’s top coach.

Kloeckner has dedicated the past 13 years to the sport of gymnastics, including the past three as Prior Lake High School head coach.

“We’ve had a state (individual) qualifier each year I’ve been head coach and I’m proud of that,” Kloeckner said.

This year, Prior Lake senior Terin Block qualified for the Class AA state competition, finishing 23rd in the all-around with 34.8 points. Block earned a 9.075 on the vault, an 8.9 on the uneven parallel bars, a 7.65 on the balance beam and a 9.175 on the floor exercise.

As a team, Prior Lake placed third in its section tournament, falling short to eventual Class AA state champion New Prague.

New Prague edged runner-up St. Cloud by only .125 of a point in the team finals.

During the day, Kloeckner is a third-grade teacher at Red Oak Elementary. He earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from the University of North Dakota. In addition, he earned a master’s degree in learning design and a bachelor of fine arts, with a K-12 theatre license.

Then it’s off to the gymnastics facility to coach.

His love of gymnastics began when he was a junior at Fairmont High School in 2009 and the program combined with Martin County West to become the Martin County Area Magic gymnastics program the following year.

Kloeckner was a spotter and team manager during his high school years, learning the sport from first — head coaches Kelly Johnson and Carly Owens — and then the wife-husband coaching duo of LeeAnn and Brian Steen.

“It was fun,” Kloeckner said. “I was new to the sport, while Kelly and Carly were fairly new to coaching, so we all had a chance to learn the sport.

“I use some of what Brian and LeeAnn Steen taught me these days as a head coach. I learned a lot from them. Gymnastics is a unique sport.”

After graduating from Fairmont, he ventured off to college in North Dakota. He stayed active in gymnastics, being an assistant coach at Grand Forks High School before moving to back to Minnesota eight years ago.

Kloeckner also judges meets. He gets to know gymnastics from a different perspective.

“You get out of it, what you put into it,” Kloeckner said. “I devote a lot of time to the sport and my team. I want my gymnasts to have fun and be part of a family like the Steens did for me when I was a part of the team in high school.

“I think it’s important to make the girls feel they are part of a family. It helps them build self-confidence.”

Kloeckner helps during off-season clinics, absorbing as much gymnastics knowledge as possible. He also is an advocate of helping his gymnasts stay in shape during the off-season so they’re as ready as possible for the vigorous high school season the next winter.

He also does many fundraisers for his Prior Lake team.

“We don’t have a youth program, which we tried a couple of years ago,” Kloeckner said. “We need to do as much as we can to help our program grow.”

Red Oak Elementary is in Shakopee, just on the southern outskirts of Minneapolis.

Kloeckner also said he received a great work ethic from former Fairmont coach Bob Bonk. He competed in both cross country and track & field under Bonk at the prep level.

“Taught me lots of great preparation skills, as well as how to connect with athletes on a personal level and how to peak at the right time. All extremely important aspects of my coaching strategies,” said Kloeckner.

Patrick Kloeckner’s parents are David and Beth Kloeckner of Fairmont. Patrick is married with a child.