By Angela Kelm
Contributor
In sports, especially softball, timing is everything. Whether it’s the perfect technique and exact release point a pitcher strives for to throw a pitch at optimal speed and spin or a hitter connecting with the ball on a swing at the prime moment to produce maximum drive and power, timing plays an integral role in the success of each individual player and the team.
In a broader sense, coaches are always looking for those timely hits that score big runs in a game but for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team and assistant coach Jeff Kneiert, timeliness has taken on a different meaning.
After having worked with assistant coach Beth Bonuso and some former Warhawk softball players with his 14-and-under travel team, Kneiert chose this season to ask head coach Brenda Volk and Bonuso if he could volunteer his time as an assistant.
With one of the most consistent coaching staffs at UW-W over the last 10 years, the softball program has evolved into a national power. Volk and Bonuso welcomed Kneiert with open arms to a staff already loaded with years of experience.
With Kneiert’s addition and through tryouts and fall season, the team saw many new faces join the program and officially become part of the Warhawk softball family.
One of those faces would come to have a much larger impact than anyone could have imagined.
After winter break, the team of 24 women returned to campus and began their traditional season with conditioning, lifting and practice, the usual regimen for the first few months of practice that remains indoors. As they dedicated themselves to getting ready for the season that was quickly approaching, so did Kneiert, as he became more and more comfortable with the team and the staff.
Through all of the 5:30 a.m. practice sessions on Monday and Friday mornings, the afternoon practices Tuesday through Thursday and work on the mental game Wednesdays, Kneiert took it all in, helping where he was asked to and creating a bond with each and every individual he worked with. His upbeat, always optimistic and slightly sarcastic demeanor won over the team.
By mid-March, the time had come where all of the team’s hard work would be put to the test and Kneiert could see the team in action. The Warhawks traveled to Clermont, Fla., to kick off the 2015 season. Kneiert, who made the trip with his father, took care of his duties in the dugout and continued to provide a fresh new presence to the team with his witty commentary.
His own battle
When the team returned to campus following a 10-2 trip over a seven-day span, the coaches had a message to deliver. With a heavy heart, the staff informed the team that Kneiert began his own battle, off the field.
Coach Kneiert, the energetic, upbeat man they all came to know and respect, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and would begin an aggressive six-week treatment regimen that included chemotherapy and radiation five days a week.
The room was silent except for tears shed by some on the team, many with personal experiences relating to such an awful disease. The coaches passed along the information and answered the questions they could.
“For Jeff to be able to come to Florida and no one knew any of this was happening behind the scenes while he continued to put us above himself… he didn’t take pity on himself and he wasn’t looking for anything in return, he just wanted to be with the team… that’s a great display of his character,” senior Paige Evangelista said.
Then something incredible happened. A team of 29 individuals – 24 student-athletes and five coaches – rallied around its beloved assistant coach. Plans were made to send Kneiert a care package and to do something for him each week to let him know he had the strength of the entire softball program to support him and his family through this obstacle.
“He’s not in this alone, ever,” Bonuso said. “When we welcome you into this family, we welcome you for good and there’s no looking back. No matter who you are, when you’re in it, you’re part of it for good.
“You hope nothing bad ever happens, but knowing that if something does you have 29 other people that support you and have your back to help you through it can make a world of difference.”
As the team continued its season, Kneiert was never far from anyone’s thoughts. Physically, he was unable to make it to all the games to see the team he helped prepare put it all together on the field.
The best part for Kneiert wasn’t necessarily getting to see the team in action.
“It’s exciting for me to see them play, to share in the victories and the defeats,” Kneiert said. “But what really makes me go there are the players and the coaches themselves. It’s the high-fives, the small conversations, all the little things that make me feel special, feel part of it all.”
‘Compared to what?’
Bonuso, the team’s primary coach on the mental game, chose prior to the season to bring a lesson to the team on something she had known about the last few years. The concept: Compared to what?
Through all of this, Kneiert took what he had heard Bonuso teach the team and apply it to himself.
The same application took on a much more personal meaning for the team. When it’s increasingly easy to get upset after a strikeout, a thought crosses their minds – compared to what? Errors happen, but the actual impact they have on a player and the game? Compared to what? A loss is hard to take, but compared to what?
Senior Deven DuCharme explained how it all fits together.
“The whole situation directly correlates with everything we’ve been taught on and off the field through the mental game,” DuCharme said. “We hear it over and over again, but it’s different when you see it in someone’s life that you know, respect and care about.”
With all of the success UW-W has experienced the last 10 years, it’s easy to get caught up in the wins and losses.
“When it’s all said and done, it’s still just a game,” Volk said. “It’s meant to be fun. This game teaches us so much and has given us all so much, and I’m just thankful Jeff has been able to be part of the Warhawk program this year if only to lift his spirits when need be.”
A jokester at heart, Kneiert sarcastically noted the worst part was putting in all the time at morning practice and now not being able to come to the games.
“But through all of this, I’ve learned how powerful and reassuring a simple touch can be,” Kneiert said. “I’ve learned how important random text messages that just ask how I’m doing are.”
A firm believer that everything happens for a reason, Bonuso added, “He was brought into this program at this time for a specific reason whether it was him helping our team or us helping him through this situation. People come into our lives for specific reasons and this is a perfect example of that.”
Rarely does a circumstance come about that provides a group of nearly 30 individuals perspective on life and on a game on a daily basis throughout a competition season. This situation, however, had the power to exceed the boundaries of a game, the importance of winning and the focus on the outcome. Instead, this season became what should be embodied in Division III athletics – an experience through games that provide life lessons for the student-athletes to become part of something bigger than themselves.
DuCharme noted the impact Kneiert has made on the team and the program.
“When we look back at our college years, he’ll be in those stories just because he has made that big of an impact on all of us,” DuCharme said.
Sophomore Mackenzie Price said it goes beyond what happens around the diamond.
“This goes past the season,” Price said. “When we are done playing this year, Jeff will still be fighting and we’ll be right there to support and fight along with him every step of the way.”
Seemingly unaware of the impact he has made on the Warhawk softball program and those 29 individuals, Kneiert wanted to make sure everyone knows how much they mean to him.
“First and foremost, I want them all to know how good they make me feel,” he said. “The little things they do, although they may seem so little to them, are so important to me. I’m so very grateful that they’ve allowed me to be part of this. I don’t know how much I’ve brought to them but they certainly have brought a lot to me just by letting me be part of it all.”
Kneiert had one last message for everyone.
“Go get your colonoscopy when you turn 50. Being in the medical profession myself, it’s so easy and I waited. Don’t wait, just make the appointment and go because you don’t know how quickly that one visit can change your life.”
Angela Kelm is the Assistant Sports Information Director for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Email her at KelmAM16@uww.edu
