Coach Neufeld to join BU Wall of Fame

A Mount Rushmore of western Manitoba volleyball coaches would have to include Kevin Neufeld.

As he enters his 50th year coaching sports, he’s being recognized not only for his work at Brandon University, but also for the role he has played in developing sports in the area.

Neufeld will be inducted onto BU’s Dick and Verda McDonald Sports Wall of Fame on Nov. 15 at the Victoria Inn as part of the class of 2026, which includes his son, Scott.

“A huge honour, very surprising,” Neufeld said. “You don’t go in and do things to get recognition, but very much appreciated. I’ve done a lot of work around BU and in that space for a long time and really enjoyed every minute of it.”

Neufeld could have made his Bobcat debut as an athlete when coach Jerry Hemmings reached out about joining the men’s basketball team. But Neufeld figures with the athletes BU had then — they were just becoming a national powerhouse — he figured he’d wind up on the end of the bench.

Neufeld started teaching in Brandon in 1983, with a few years of basketball coaching under his belt, having assisted Bob Nevill at Earl Haig School when he was in Grade 11.

Later in the 1980s, Neufeld helped start the Westman High School Hockey League with Dave Shyiak, hoping to offer kids who were cut by AAA programs a place to play.

Somehow, he wound up adding volleyball to his plate at Crocus Plains in the late 1990s, and he was far from an overnight success.

“The first year I coached, we were terrible,” Neufeld chuckled.

“I remember losing to Virden 3-0 and it took 28 minutes in the old scoring system. I thought to myself, I’ve got to get into this or get out of it. I chose to get into it.

“Steve Densmore had been doing some tremendous work in Virden and I was tired in the first year of losing to him all the time. I figured I needed to step up and go learn a little more and get involved.”

Did he ever.

Neufeld turned the Crocus program around, capturing back-to-back AAAA provincial titles in 2001 and 2002.

Just a few years later, he led the provincial team to a silver medal at the 2005 Canada Games. They upgraded to gold four years later.

Neufeld also founded Storm Volleyball, which captured a Volleyball Canada club national title in 2010 and earned the right to represent Canada at the NORCECA junior women’s championship.

One of his former players, Trista Wenger, stepped in as head coach at Crocus, capturing two more titles in 2008 and 2009.

“It’s a great feeling to see people go on and be successful. One of my goals in everything I did, whether it was in Storm or Crocus or Neelin, or provincial teams … is seeing people give back to the game in coaching,” Neufeld said.

“It was great. (Wenger) did a really good job with Bryce (Wilson’s) help and that was a really good group. You had the Lisa Barclays, the Meghan Robertsons and Niki Friesen; there were some people there who were tremendous athletes, but it was great to see them go on, and Trista did a great job.”

Neufeld took on a new challenge in the fall of 2010, moving the Neelin Spartans from AAA to AAAA. His talented group of freshmen shocked the province, winning a provincial title. They went on to meet the Mennonite Brethren Hawks in the next three gold-medal matches, winning again in 2012, their Grade 11 year.

In the meantime, Neufeld started assistant coaching under Lee Carter when BU volleyball made its Canada West debut in 2005.

The Bobcats were consistently in the top half of the standings, but never quite made the breakthrough to win a playoff game. Neufeld stepped in as head coach during Carter’s sabbatical during the 2017-18 season, leading them to a 10-14 record.

For Neufeld, the chance to work with a strong and committed group kept him coming back.

“I wouldn’t say we always had the people who were touching the basketball rim, but we had people who worked hard and cared about our team, about BU and about each other,” Neufeld said, adding that what he learned there certainly helped his Neelin squad develop.

“We’d typically practise five, six times a week, we’d practise Sunday nights. I was fortunate there to have a very committed group. We were running, at high school, basically a university-type schedule.”

Most recently, Neufeld has developed the Assiniboine College women’s program from a winless squad to a Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference champion in just a few years.

He’s returning to the college this fall with a strong rookie class and no signs of slowing down in what will be his 50th year coaching sports.

“Having people that are moving on and giving back, that’s the only way we can continue to provide opportunities for kids,” he said.

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The rest of the class includes athletes Scott Neufeld, Sam Tuivai, Donata Huebert and Terena Caryk, referee Kevin Newton as a builder, along with community leaders Bruce Thompson and Doug Roach.

The 2010-11 and 2012-13 men’s volleyball teams are being inducted as well.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com