MONROE - If Jeff Newcomer knew one thing for sure in his life, it was that he belonged in athletics. He loved sports as a youngster, excelled through college and then knew he needed to make it his career.
That need was about to take him thousands of miles away, but instead, things seemingly fell into place at the last minute and have kept him in Monroe, his longtime home, doing exactly what he loves and being a big part of the community that had a hand in raising him.
He was born in Monroe and raised in town, where Newcomer remembers riding his bike through the construction site during the building of Parkside Elementary School.
He was raised by his mother, Sharon, in a single-parent family with a sister. He said he thrived with help from wonderful grandparents and a strong community that surrounded him.
He was an active child, he said, maybe even hyperactive, but he let out his energy on the playground - running, biking and playing every sport he could dream up with neighborhood friends. He was often at the YMCA or Twining Park when he wasn't at Boy Scouts, where he found another opportunity to connect.
"My mom did such a great job getting me involved and making sure I had the same opportunities as others," Newcomer said.
In high school, Newcomer was an athlete: He was consumed going from one sport to the next. It was the camaraderie, his teammates and finding role models in so many of his coaches that made him love it.
He did so well, he found himself being heavily scouted by the Major Leagues as early as his sophomore year. Before his graduation in 1999, he received a call from the head Red Sox scout the night before the Major League draft, telling him they were going to pass.
After graduation, Newcomer chose to attend Rend Lake College, a junior college in southern Illinois where he said he played baseball non-stop.
Although he was getting in some general education, his focus stayed true to the sport he deeply loved. The following year, he moved on to Parkland College in Champaign on another baseball scholarship, taking fifth place in the junior college World Series. He earned his associate's degree and planned to move on and continue playing.
But in 2001, Newcomer, a shortstop, tore his rotator cuff. He tried rehab and went back to school, this time in Campbellsville, Kentucky. By then, he said he knew a career in baseball wasn't likely.
"As soon as I got (to Kentucky) I knew I couldn't play anymore," Newcomer said.
He transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He had been taking criminal justice courses, but back in Wisconsin, he began working in the weight room and athletic department as a student employee.
"I knew then I had to do something in athletics," Newcomer said.
Newcomer was doing well, but he eventually needed surgery and trouble came when he developed auto-immune hepatitis afterwards. He left school in 2002 to heal, and as he got better, he enrolled again, and decided to try out for the baseball team.
"It was a point where life wasn't about baseball or sports anymore," Newcomer said. "There was no scholarship. Everything was on me."
He accepted the challenge, working four jobs to afford to stay in school while also playing baseball at UW-Whitewater. Eventually, the team went to the World Series and won the national championship. At 25, he was the oldest person on the team.
He was focused on his education, and Newcomer graduated with honors from Whitewater with a bachelor of science in Education. He had no plans to teach, but had a big-time dream to become an athletic director. He went on to earn his master's degree from UW-Whitewater in 2007 in curriculum and instruction with a focus in sports administration.
He sent out resumes all over the country and landed a job as the assistant facility manager at Washington University in St. Louis for three years. Newcomer said his highlights were being part of the college hosting the 2008 vice presidential debate and an all-American game covered by ESPN.
Professionally, it was a stepping stone position and eventually Newcomer hoped to move on. He met his wife, Jennifer, by then and took a job in Peoria, Illinois at Bradley University as the assistant director of campus recreation and athletic director.
The university had just opened a 165,000-square-foot facility and Newcomer was a big part of building its equipment line, implementing policies and hiring staff. It was hectic work, but a great experience, he said. He worked there for two years when he decided to get back to Wisconsin with his growing family.
Eventually, Newcomer took a position at Colony Brands as an inventory manager. He was happy to be home and enjoyed the position and the hours, but could never get the idea of being involved with athletics out of his head.
"I couldn't let it go," Newcomer said. "I just wanted to get back into athletics."
After two-and-a-half years at Colony Brands, Newcomer decided to search the field. He sent out resumes and was interviewed and flown to a university in North Carolina. He was offered a position and took it, but hesitated to move his young family.
He isn't exactly sure how it happened, but seemingly out of nowhere, an interim position as Monroe High School's athletic director opened. He was slated to move - his car was even packed the night before he planned to leave, but got the call that evening.
Eventually, he was chosen to stay on permanently.
"It's pretty special to come back and be the athletic director for so many coaches that you played for," Newcomer said. "I'm so happy and blessed to be in this position. It all kind of fell into place."
He said his focus isn't just on updating handbooks, giving structure, policies and guidelines - although he's done all of that. He also hopes to bring in more school spirit and ownership from students. To that end, he even busted out his letter jacket for homecoming.
So far, he feels his changes have been well-received.
"We have higher expectations for those who participate in things outside the classroom," Newcomer said. His mission was for students to take care of school first, and he now has a grade reporting policy, an attendance policy, a travel policy and a code of conduct policy all in place.
Newcomer is also vested in the community. He's been an alderman for the City of Monroe since 2013. He felt Monroe needed some changes and wanted to be part of it.
"Monroe is a great place to raise kids and I wanted to make sure it stayed that way," Newcomer said.
Being part of the council means he's also assigned to the park board, where Newcomer has somewhat found a niche in the community.
When he and Jennifer first moved to town, they brought with them their Old English Bulldog, Ruby, and the couple missed having a dog park. After looking at the map of Monroe, Newcomer spotted a 2.5-acre parcel the city already owned, and he has made it his mission to gain the park board's support to turn it into a dog park.
He recruited interested, dog-loving friends, and last summer the park board approved it. He's working on fundraising, but is confident that as soon as this summer a dog park will be part of Monroe.
"We're still fundraising, but we're hoping to get started this summer," Newcomer said. "We've had a lot of community support as well as private and business donations - and even donations coming from outside of Monroe. That's pretty special."
It's something that Newcomer said makes Monroe more desirable for people to live and work here.
"I don't want to move to a big city, but I also don't want Monroe to fall behind," Newcomer said. "I want Monroe to grow and attract young professionals. I'd hate to see Monroe stay where it is when everyone else around us is growing."
In his free time, Newcomer his two young children and hanging out at home whenever he can. He has now given up baseball, but still enjoys golfing with friends. He and his wife used to run half marathons together, and both enjoy being busy and escaping on small getaways with family.
Newcomer said he lives by the motto: "Deal - when obstacles present themselves, don't find excuses, find solutions; drive - keep the determination and passion to overcome those obstacles; and done - earn the reputation to follow through to get the task at hand completed."
That need was about to take him thousands of miles away, but instead, things seemingly fell into place at the last minute and have kept him in Monroe, his longtime home, doing exactly what he loves and being a big part of the community that had a hand in raising him.
He was born in Monroe and raised in town, where Newcomer remembers riding his bike through the construction site during the building of Parkside Elementary School.
He was raised by his mother, Sharon, in a single-parent family with a sister. He said he thrived with help from wonderful grandparents and a strong community that surrounded him.
He was an active child, he said, maybe even hyperactive, but he let out his energy on the playground - running, biking and playing every sport he could dream up with neighborhood friends. He was often at the YMCA or Twining Park when he wasn't at Boy Scouts, where he found another opportunity to connect.
"My mom did such a great job getting me involved and making sure I had the same opportunities as others," Newcomer said.
In high school, Newcomer was an athlete: He was consumed going from one sport to the next. It was the camaraderie, his teammates and finding role models in so many of his coaches that made him love it.
He did so well, he found himself being heavily scouted by the Major Leagues as early as his sophomore year. Before his graduation in 1999, he received a call from the head Red Sox scout the night before the Major League draft, telling him they were going to pass.
After graduation, Newcomer chose to attend Rend Lake College, a junior college in southern Illinois where he said he played baseball non-stop.
Although he was getting in some general education, his focus stayed true to the sport he deeply loved. The following year, he moved on to Parkland College in Champaign on another baseball scholarship, taking fifth place in the junior college World Series. He earned his associate's degree and planned to move on and continue playing.
But in 2001, Newcomer, a shortstop, tore his rotator cuff. He tried rehab and went back to school, this time in Campbellsville, Kentucky. By then, he said he knew a career in baseball wasn't likely.
"As soon as I got (to Kentucky) I knew I couldn't play anymore," Newcomer said.
He transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He had been taking criminal justice courses, but back in Wisconsin, he began working in the weight room and athletic department as a student employee.
"I knew then I had to do something in athletics," Newcomer said.
Newcomer was doing well, but he eventually needed surgery and trouble came when he developed auto-immune hepatitis afterwards. He left school in 2002 to heal, and as he got better, he enrolled again, and decided to try out for the baseball team.
"It was a point where life wasn't about baseball or sports anymore," Newcomer said. "There was no scholarship. Everything was on me."
He accepted the challenge, working four jobs to afford to stay in school while also playing baseball at UW-Whitewater. Eventually, the team went to the World Series and won the national championship. At 25, he was the oldest person on the team.
He was focused on his education, and Newcomer graduated with honors from Whitewater with a bachelor of science in Education. He had no plans to teach, but had a big-time dream to become an athletic director. He went on to earn his master's degree from UW-Whitewater in 2007 in curriculum and instruction with a focus in sports administration.
He sent out resumes all over the country and landed a job as the assistant facility manager at Washington University in St. Louis for three years. Newcomer said his highlights were being part of the college hosting the 2008 vice presidential debate and an all-American game covered by ESPN.
Professionally, it was a stepping stone position and eventually Newcomer hoped to move on. He met his wife, Jennifer, by then and took a job in Peoria, Illinois at Bradley University as the assistant director of campus recreation and athletic director.
The university had just opened a 165,000-square-foot facility and Newcomer was a big part of building its equipment line, implementing policies and hiring staff. It was hectic work, but a great experience, he said. He worked there for two years when he decided to get back to Wisconsin with his growing family.
Eventually, Newcomer took a position at Colony Brands as an inventory manager. He was happy to be home and enjoyed the position and the hours, but could never get the idea of being involved with athletics out of his head.
"I couldn't let it go," Newcomer said. "I just wanted to get back into athletics."
After two-and-a-half years at Colony Brands, Newcomer decided to search the field. He sent out resumes and was interviewed and flown to a university in North Carolina. He was offered a position and took it, but hesitated to move his young family.
He isn't exactly sure how it happened, but seemingly out of nowhere, an interim position as Monroe High School's athletic director opened. He was slated to move - his car was even packed the night before he planned to leave, but got the call that evening.
Eventually, he was chosen to stay on permanently.
"It's pretty special to come back and be the athletic director for so many coaches that you played for," Newcomer said. "I'm so happy and blessed to be in this position. It all kind of fell into place."
He said his focus isn't just on updating handbooks, giving structure, policies and guidelines - although he's done all of that. He also hopes to bring in more school spirit and ownership from students. To that end, he even busted out his letter jacket for homecoming.
So far, he feels his changes have been well-received.
"We have higher expectations for those who participate in things outside the classroom," Newcomer said. His mission was for students to take care of school first, and he now has a grade reporting policy, an attendance policy, a travel policy and a code of conduct policy all in place.
Newcomer is also vested in the community. He's been an alderman for the City of Monroe since 2013. He felt Monroe needed some changes and wanted to be part of it.
"Monroe is a great place to raise kids and I wanted to make sure it stayed that way," Newcomer said.
Being part of the council means he's also assigned to the park board, where Newcomer has somewhat found a niche in the community.
When he and Jennifer first moved to town, they brought with them their Old English Bulldog, Ruby, and the couple missed having a dog park. After looking at the map of Monroe, Newcomer spotted a 2.5-acre parcel the city already owned, and he has made it his mission to gain the park board's support to turn it into a dog park.
He recruited interested, dog-loving friends, and last summer the park board approved it. He's working on fundraising, but is confident that as soon as this summer a dog park will be part of Monroe.
"We're still fundraising, but we're hoping to get started this summer," Newcomer said. "We've had a lot of community support as well as private and business donations - and even donations coming from outside of Monroe. That's pretty special."
It's something that Newcomer said makes Monroe more desirable for people to live and work here.
"I don't want to move to a big city, but I also don't want Monroe to fall behind," Newcomer said. "I want Monroe to grow and attract young professionals. I'd hate to see Monroe stay where it is when everyone else around us is growing."
In his free time, Newcomer his two young children and hanging out at home whenever he can. He has now given up baseball, but still enjoys golfing with friends. He and his wife used to run half marathons together, and both enjoy being busy and escaping on small getaways with family.
Newcomer said he lives by the motto: "Deal - when obstacles present themselves, don't find excuses, find solutions; drive - keep the determination and passion to overcome those obstacles; and done - earn the reputation to follow through to get the task at hand completed."