It has been another extremely busy year for Dana Dobransky Duckworth. Over the past 12 months she has continued to combine a highly successful career with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals with her duties as the volunteer assistant coach with the Alabama Gymnastics team, helping the Crimson Tide to yet another top-3 national finish.

But most importantly, last May she and her husband Joe, who married in 2000, had their second child with the arrival of their son Joseph Clemson. "Jace" joins his sister Camryn Elizabeth who was born in 2004.

"Life changes so fast and priorities shift so quickly once you have children," Duckworth said. "It's been wonderful, extremely busy, but amazing time and I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything in the world."

Balancing her family life, her profession and coaching is challenging, but well worth it, she said.

"My decision to volunteer with Alabama stems from the passion I have for the sport, the love I have for the University and the example I strive to set for our ladies in and out of the gym," Duckworth said. "My goal is to bring an element of creativity and fun during our ladies' quick four years here at the Capstone. It's my way of giving back to a sport and a program that has given me so much."

For Duckworth one success has always led to another. In her eighth year as a volunteer coach, that has certainly not changed for the former Crimson Tide NCAA Champion and All-American.

"We have such a great nucleus of technical expertise, with Dana, we add to our artistic expression," Patterson explained. "Dana not only adds some artistic flair to our program, but gives our ladies invaluable experience as an NCAA Champion and stellar student-athlete, as well."

It's a well known fact that Duckworth is one of the nation's premiere choreographers. Nothing could drive that point home quite like the success some of the athletes she has worked with over the past few years have enjoyed.

Two gymnasts in particular have thrived with Duckworth designed routines. In what is believed to be a first, two of the athletes she worked with shared the NCAA floor exercise title in 2004 when Alabama's Ashley Miles and North Carolina's Courtney Bumpers tied for top honors. In 2005 Bumpers scored a 10.0 to win her second floor title, while Miles was right there in second with a 9.975. That same year Miles also scored a 10.0 during the Super Six Team Final, leading Alabama to a second place finish. Last season, Miles closed out her storied Alabama career with a third place national finish on the floor exercise giving her four top-3 NCAA finishes.

With Duckworth's help, Miles also won four consecutive Southeastern Conference and NCAA Regional floor exercise titles. She is the first gymnast in SEC history to win the same event all four years of her career.

"It's such a wonderful experience to be able to help these athletes bring out their personality and perform routines that shine," Duckworth said. "They work very hard and have certainly been very successful. It's a lot of fun to watch them compete."

Professionally, Duckworth has been just as successful. In only her fourth year with Pfizer, she has already become a Vice President Cabinet winner denoting the top representative in the Gulf Coast Region, earned the Circle of Excellence award which means she is in the top ten percent of the representatives in the Southeast Region. She was elected district captain for the Legislative Action Committee, which works with state and local Senators and Congressmen to address healthcare issues and the impact they have on constituents.

Duckworth, a two-time NCAA National Balance Beam Champion for the Crimson Tide in addition to countless other honors throughout her 1990-1993 career, is now in her second stint as a volunteer assistant coach. She served as a volunteer coach from 1997-99 and then rejoined the Tide's staff again in the fall of 2001.

Duckworth's pride in the Alabama gymnastics program also contributed to her decision to make a return engagement. Throughout her career, she witnessed the way in which the program changed her teammates, and, more importantly, how it impacted her own life.

"When I came aboard in 1989, I was just a 17-year-old girl. Over those four years, I really matured into a young woman with leadership skills," Duckworth explained. "The opportunity to compete with Alabama completely structured my life in such a positive way - from winning championships to going to graduate school on postgraduate scholarships. Who could ask for anything more? I am so glad to have this opportunity to give back and watch the same thing happen to these young ladies."

Duckworth has now seen both sides of a national team championship, having been a part of the Tide's 1991 NCAA title as a sophomore and the 2002 NCAA Championship as a coach. She has also won a conference title as an athlete (1990) and as a coach (2003).

In addition to her team championships, Duckworth earned eight All-American accolades and finished her career in 1993 by winning her second consecutive NCAA Balance Beam title with a perfect 10.0. She was named NCAA Woman of the Year for the State of Alabama in 1993.

As a student, she soared to great heights, becoming a three-year Scholastic All-American and a two-time CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-American, an award the spans several sports. She was inducted in Mortar Board as an undergraduate and earned both an NCAA and Southeastern Conference Postgraduate Scholarship, using them to attend graduate school at Alabama and obtain her Master's of Business Administration in 1999.

After graduating with her Bachelor's degree, she moved up the corporate ladder quickly at AMX Corporation, a high tech firm out of Dallas. She finished her tenure there as manager of their training programs. After receiving her Master's degree, she served as Vice President of Corporate Solutions in Birmingham before returning to Tuscaloosa to work for Pfizer.

• 2001-present Volunteer Assistant Coach, Alabama
• 1998-99 Volunteer Assistant Coach, Alabama
• 1992 and 1993 NCAA Balance Beam Champion
• Member of the 1991 NCAA Championship Team
• Member of the 1990 SEC Championship Team
• Five-time All-America
• NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
• SEC Postgraduate Scholarship
• NCAA Woman of the Year - State Winner
• Second Team GTE Academic All-America
• Three-year Academic All-SEC
• All-SEC
• Regional Champion
• SEC Champion