Jul
24
Written by:
News Editor
Saturday, July 24, 2010 4:34 PM
By Troy Landreville
Admittedly, Kevin Neufeld is no basketball aficionado, but he does know a thing or two about rowing.
He excelled in the sport during the 1980s, a decade in which he competed in a pair of Olympic Games.
The Victoria resident was a member of the Canadian men’s 8 rowing team that won gold in at the ’84 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Four years later, he was back on the Olympic stage, helping Canada’s men’s 8 squad to sixth place at the ’88 event in Seoul, South Korea.
This weekend, Kevin is a spectator at summer games of a much more modest scale.
He and his wife Connie are at the BC Summer Games in Langley, supporting their 14-year-old son Matthew and the Zone 6 Vancouver Island-Central Coast boys basketball team.
While their sports of choice differ, and the scope varies widely, Kevin and his son’s athletic paths are somewhat similar.
Kevin started his rowing career in high school, helping West Park Secondary in St. Catharines, Ont., win the Canadian championship title in 1978.
“It’s the same progression as any sport,” Kevin said. “You go through regionals and row clubs. Eventually you keep trying out for teams and if you’re good enough, you’ll make it.”
Decades later, Matthew made Vancouver Island’s BC Summer Games U14 boys team in basketball, a sport that’s foreign to his dad.
“I’m not a big basketball guy,” the elder Neufeld said, following Vancouver Island-Central Coast’s hard fought 42-36 win over Vancouver Squamish-A Saturday morning at R.E. Mountain Secondary. “I like watching it. I don’t know how to play it. He [Matthew] has always been a little tall for his age so we just enrolled him in basketball and luckily he got in with a really good coach when he was young, and the same progression – one team after another, keep pursuing it, and he’s having fun. We enjoy watching him.”
Kevin said the BC Summer Games balances fun with serious competition.
“There’s a lot of kids who are at an age where they’re great sports,” Kevin said. “It’s like a mini-Olympics when you think about it. They’ve got the opening ceremonies, they’ve got the dorms, they’ve got the food, they’re away from their families for the most part. It’s a time of building camaraderie.”
Leading up to the Summer Games, Matthew said his dad has been, literally, a driving force behind his hoops endeavors.
“He comes to all the practices, drives me to all the games, and supports me,” Matthew said.
Unlike his dad, Matthew doesn’t list rowing as a favourite sport.
“Not really [interested in rowing],” he said with a chuckle. “Basketball is my main sport.”
Part of Matthew’s natural-born athleticism can be attributed not just to his dad, but to his mom as well. Connie was a former competitive swimmer who took part in the 1979 BC Summer Games in Richmond.
“Both my parents are athletes, they’re tall, and that helps with my basketball,” Matthew said.
Kevin’s advice to Matthew: simply enjoy the experience.
“Sure, you are always going to remember the competition but the real fun happens when you are just hanging out with your buddies. That’s what you always remember,” Kevin said.