JASTER’S JABBERINGS — Neufeld developed athletes, coaches in lengthy career

Opinion

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This article was published 03/04/2018 (2726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last year, Kevin Neufeld took a chance to make his dream of coaching at the university level a reality.

To fill in as the head coach of the Brandon University Bobcats women’s volleyball team on an interim basis while Lee Carter was on sabbatical, Neufeld took a leave of absence from the Brandon School Division. He wasn’t sure whether he would come back to the division or what the future would hold for him.

That picture is a little clearer now as Neufeld, who taught physical education in the division for 35 years and coached various sports for 39 years, has elected not to return to the division.

“Really hard,” Neufeld, who guided a young BU team to a 10-14 record, said of the decision. “You’ve done something for 35 years and I really enjoy teaching and coaching. It will be a big transition and a big change. I always wish I had not enjoyed it as it would have made the decision easy, but I have enjoyed it and I still do. That made it that much more difficult as well. Being away at the university this year maybe got me heading down that path a bit and I hope to maybe contribute in some of those areas as well.”

Neufeld, who turns 57 in July, isn’t done working. He’s looking at a few positions around Brandon University and isn’t sure if he’ll continue to volunteer coach.

It’s difficult to measure the impact Neufeld has had on people’s lives. For around 25 years he has been one of the faces of girls’ volleyball in the region. He guided teams at both Crocus Plains and Neelin to provincial high school varsity championships and coached provincial teams at various levels as well. He helped cultivate what is now a strong volleyball culture in southwest Manitoba.

Oddly enough, his career didn’t look like it would take him down this path at the beginning. He started coaching basketball (and worked alongside Don Thomson when he was the head coach of the BU women’s hoops team) and was a founding member of the Westman High School Hockey League.

During his time as athletic director at Crocus, the women’s volleyball coach stepped down and Neufeld decided to take over the team. He had a lot to learn as his team suffered losses with scores similar to 15-1, 15-2 in the old scoring system (teams had to serve in order to score points). He decided at that point to go all in and become the best volleyball coach that he could.

“That’s kind of my personality,” Neufeld said. “If you’re going to do something you have to do it right. The kids deserve the best you can provide them with and I tried to do it over the years.”

Neufeld has an extensive track record of not only coaching solid teams but developing athletes so that they can compete at the university and college level. It started with the age group of kids that included his daughter Kim. Although she never played after high school, some of her friends did, including Brandon University Wall of Famer Ashley Creighton.

In the 2010-11 school year, he worked with a group of athletes at Neelin and stuck with them through all four years of high school. That group of Spartans players lost the AAAA junior varsity provincial final in their Grade 10 year, won the varsity crown the following season and then lost the final as Grade 12s. Seven players from that group committed to U Sports schools, with six for volleyball and one for basketball.

Neufeld has also helped groom coaches. Bryce Wilson and Derek Richels joined him as assistants and are now top-end coaches in the city. He also worked with the likes of Trista Rybuck (nee Wenger) at Crocus, Lana Dubois at Neelin and some former Bobcat players like Becky Birch (nee Young) and Jaryn Ruether. Birch is coaching in the club and high school ranks in Westman while Ruether is an assistant coach in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.

Neufeld’s son Scott, who played five seasons with the Bobcats men’s volleyball team as a left side and libero, is also part of the coaching tree as he is an assistant in the ACAC.

Neufeld said a lot of his success is that he doesn’t just coddle people. He isn’t afraid to be blunt and upfront with his pupils and push them to their limits.

It’s a lesson he learned when he was young and that inspired him to pursue his career path.

“Larrie Pilling was a middle years phys ed teacher that impacted me,” he said. “If you look at Tom Price and Grant Coulter and Don Thomson and the people who went to (L’Ecole) Harrison when he got there, he left an impact. I remember vividly being in Grade 7 and him sticking his finger in my chest fairly firmly and say, ‘Wake up buddy, you’re not running the show here,’ and I think I really learned a lot from him. He was a tremendous disciplinarian, and in the old days discipline was a different form than it is now a days.

“From that day on, I think he kind of took me under his wing and we became really good friends. From that day in Grade 7 on I knew I wanted to teach high school phys ed.”

Neufeld admits he will miss the relationships with staff members and students at the schools as well as building the teams. However, he’s quite proud of what he did during his career in the Brandon School Division.

“I never really said that I’ve gone to work,” he said. “I’ve gone to school. It’s not just been a job, it’s been my life. I’m not sure that was always a healthy balance, but for me that was my life and I put everything I had into teaching and coaching.

“The coaching is what is published in the paper, so to speak, but I was proud of impacting and teaching many kids, not just doing the easy thing. That means not necessarily treating everyone with kids gloves but sometimes being pretty frank and honest with them and I think that’s served me pretty well over the years as well.”

Although he’s not sure what he will do next, Neufeld would like to stay in the Wheat City.

“I love Brandon,” he said. “I’ve been here forever. I moved here when I was four and I’ve been here ever since and I’ve been very proud Brandon, Brandon School Division and Brandon University supporter for my whole life. I don’t really see going anywhere from here.

“It’s not an easy choice and I’ve enjoyed the run I’ve had. I’m not heading out to pasture yet, I’ve got lots to learn and lots to give over the next eight or 10 years as well.” I’m not heading out to pasture yet, I’ve got lots to learn and lots to give over the next eight or 10 years as well.”