Starting his athletics career as a high school student in San Diego, Charles Keeney was regarded the World’s Tumbling Champion by 1935, accumulating six gold medals and a bronze in the event in competitions on both local and national levels between 1933 and 1935. Following his years of competition, Keeney taught tumbling for 37 years, including a head-coaching job at the University of California- Berkeley from 1937-1957. There, he produced three team national championships and one Pacific Coast Conference team title. Military service disrupted Keeney’s coaching career from 1942-1946 where he served in the US Navy.