Referee Newton to join BU Wall of Fame

Kevin Newton will be the first one on the Healthy Living Centre court this evening.

He’s always early on match day.

The longtime volleyball referee, who worked the very first Brandon University volleyball match in Canada West and most Bobcat games in the 21 years that followed, will take the stand as the BU women face UBC at 6 p.m.

First, he has his list of pre-match duties, which he has to finish with enough time to hand out a Werther’s hard candy to everyone at the score table.

He’ll work Saturday’s women’s match as well.

On Sunday, Newton will enter BU’s Dick and Verda McDonald Sports Wall of Fame as the first volleyball official enshrined.

He certainly wasn’t expecting the call from BU’s Tyler Crayston last spring.

“I was surprised, but it’s an honour,” Newton said.

“I was up there last weekend, I hadn’t looked through the Wall of Fame for quite a long time, and there are some outstanding people that have put a lot into sport in the Westman area and the university, Canada West, U Sports, so it’s a little overwhelming to be honest, but it’s truly an honour.”

Newton started officiating when he taught physical education in Gladstone in the 1980s, because, as every rural Phys. Ed. teacher can relate, if not him, then who?

Once he became certified at one of BU Wall of Fame coach Bill Gadd’s clinics, he quickly started working a lot of matches in Winnipeg as well.

“That almost became my second home,” Newton chuckled.

He didn’t take long to upgrade to Level 2 and 3, and then was selected for a bunch of national championships. Back then, club volleyball nationals weren’t open like they are today, with any and every sanctioned club eligible to register. Teams had to win their way to nationals through provincials, meaning the competition for referees to be selected was much stiffer.

Newton continued to develop and impress his supervisors, and was asked to take part in the two-year national referee program, earning Level 4 status in 1991. He’s the first and only referee from Westman to do so yet.

With that came opportunities to work Canada Games, Pan American Games and more major events.

But Newton won’t pinpoint which was the most significant.

“They were all exciting in their own way, good people there with very experienced teams, coaches that have been all over the world … you learn so much from all the people there working along with you,” Newton said.

“I don’t think any event is bigger than another, in some ways, because they’re all really important to the players.”

Something Newton preaches to those he mentors, and an example he lives by, is that he holds himself to the same standard of performance whether he’s working a national final or a consolation semifinal on a Saturday afternoon in front of a handful of parent spectators.

“They deserve that. Those coaches and players deserve that,” Newton said.

“I think officials play a very important role in sport and those officials have an obligation to bring their best game, their professionalism to any match.”

In the meantime, Newton also coached boys and girls volleyball in Gladstone, Glenboro and Wawanesa over the years. He guided the Glenboro girls to a single-A provincial title in 1994, and had a few other close calls along the way.

He said that made him a better official.

“You learn what coaches go through, what they appreciate from referees and what they expect from referees,” Newton said.

“What referees do to frustrate coaches, you can learn to avoid. Getting that court-side opportunity to hear those dialogues, you get the inside track for sure.”

For Newton, the BU program is near and dear to his heart for different reasons than most.

While he developed relationships with the Bobcat players, coaches and staff, he had to “put his referee hat on” and call matches fairly.

But the addition of a volleyball program opened the door for officials who otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to work big events to do so.

Newton was the supervisor of referee assistants — line judges and scorekeepers — for the U Sports championship at the HLC in 2025, and took great pride in preparing local referees to perform on the big stage.

“We really built an officiating program around that and our people, in my opinion, performed flawlessly,” Newton said.

“For all of our local people to come together and do the job we did, and the accolades we received from the senior officiating team, the referee supervisor and referee coach and top-level officials in Canada, that’s remarkable and makes everything worth it.”

Newton is entering the Wall of Fame along with volleyball players Donata Huebert, Sam Tuivai and Scott Neufeld, basketball player Terena Caryk, community leaders Doug Roach and Bruce Thompson, builder Kevin Neufeld and the men’s volleyball teams of 2010-11 and 2012-13.

“I don’t see it as a personal thing; I see it as a team thing,” Newton said.

“I’ve been given the opportunities to get where I’ve gotten with officiating because of a lot of hard work and support from many other officials in Manitoba and Canada.

“I’ve been fortunate; there’s no question.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com