By Matt Browning

John Wiemers was chosen as the YMCA Yi-Belong profile for October. Wiemers has been helping with the YMCA for five years.

“Just seeing the joy on the kids’ faces during practice and games means the world to me,” Wiemers said. “I try to play everyone equally and mix the talents so we can learn together. For me it is more about being active and learning to work as a team over winning.”

Wiemers first started assisting with t-ball, then became a head coach the following year. His daughters got him into coaching soccer even though he admitted not knowing a lot about the start.

“As I learned with the players, I developed more of a passion to keep kids active,” Wiemers said. “During the Covid year I ended up taking on four teams (two girls and two boys). I wanted to make sure they had a coach and positive mentor.”

Wiemers has had many players request to be back on his teams, which is incredibly humbling.

“I appreciate all the parents for having faith in me and allowing me to coach their children,” Wiemers said. “The greatest joy that I can ever receive from coaching is to see these young athletes go on and stay active in life.”