LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western University announced the hiring of Shane Wiebe as the Director and Head Coach of the Spartans track and field and cross country teams Tuesday.
Wiebe, who was previously the Spartans track and field and cross country head coach from 1997 to 2002, will take over a program that has captured eight Canada West titles and six U SPORTS team medals in the last five years.
Over the course of the last year, TWU’s athletic department conducted an extensive internal review of the track and field and cross country programs, which resulted in a decision to restructure the leadership paradigm. With a refreshed structure, the program will now include two full-time coaches and two part-time coaches, with Wiebe taking over the directorial and head coaching role.
“In taking a careful look at our track and field and cross country programs, it became clear that we needed to improve our structure in order to ensure that our athletes were having every possibility of developing into Complete Champions,” said TWU Athletic Director Jeff Gamache. “This review of the program, based on surveys and months of conversations with athletes and coaches, has led to a new structure and new positions within our team.
“I am excited to introduce Shane Wiebe as our new Director and Head Coach of our track and field and cross country teams. Our interview panel, which included athletes, coaches and administration, is confident Shane will provide the leadership and team building that is necessary for the program to be united and produce Complete Champions well into the future.”
Rob Pike, who served as TWU’s head coach for the past three years, and Jamie Sinclair will continue to work as assistant coaches under the direction of Wiebe, who will now lead the search to fill the vacant endurance coach position.
Wiebe, who was a national-level decathlete, joins TWU after spending the last 15 years as the lead pastor at Southwest Community Church in Kamloops, B.C. As a coach, Wiebe, who has his NCCP Level 3 Track & Field Certification, has been the sprints, jumps and hurdles coach with the Kamloops Track & Field Club since 2015, where he has worked alongside Canadian Olympic bronze medal-winning shot putter Dylan Armstrong who coaches with the club.
“I’m thrilled to be back at TWU,” Wiebe said. “The dream, when I founded the program back in the late 1990s, was to make the track and field and cross country program a vibrant, healthy and successful place for athletes and coaches to live out the values of the Complete Champion Approach. Though I recognize there have been challenges in recent days, I’m very much looking forward to leading a process, a staff, and a team that will make every member proud to wear the Spartan logo across their chest. I have high expectations of myself, my staff and my team, and I am confident we will make positive strides very quickly. There is a lot of work to do and I can’t wait to get started.
His previous coaching experience also saw Wiebe coach Canada’s sprints, jumps and multi-events at the 2001 FISU Games. While serving as the Spartans head coach in the program’s previous iteration, Wiebe was also the head coach of the Langley Mustangs Track & Field Club from 1998 to 2002.
“Shane brings the exact blend of what we want at TWU in terms of our head coaches,” Gamache said. “He has a desire to have our athletes honour God through competition at the highest level. Shane’s unique journey has taken him through both faith and sport building adventures. He is a motivational coach who is patient with athletes, taking each athlete’s strengths and challenges into consideration as he works with them. He has extensive technical skills, particularly in throws, sprinting and jumping. His experience building cohesive teams and organizing large groups of people will be invaluable in his new role.”
Wiebe is a certified life and organizational coach and has been working with C&C Resources for Life in Kamloops. In 2015, Wiebe volunteered as the team chaplain for the Kamloops Broncos of the Canadian Junior Football League.
Wiebe earned a Doctor of Ministry from Carey Theological College in Vancouver in 2015. He also has a Master of Divinity from Carey Theological College, having graduated in 2010, and a Bachelor of Arts from Thompson Rivers University (1993).