Indispensable Only Begins to Describe Vicksburg Athletics 'MVP' VanderKamp

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

September 20, 2022

VICKSBURG — Reading, traveling, enjoying time with family and sitting by the pool are all on Rhonda VanderKamp’s retirement list.

Southwest CorridorBut before she embarks on that journey in June, she is finishing her 21st year as Vicksburg High School athletic secretary.

One person not looking forward to that June day is Vicksburg athletic director Mike Roy.

“I keep waking up every day coming to work, and maybe she’ll tell me I’m going to do one more (year),” Roy said.

“Like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Tom Brady retires, they’re going to dearly miss him. That’s the best analogy I can give; that’s how important she is to the team we have here.”

Roy should know.

The two have worked together all 21 years, forming a work family that’s become an anomaly in the world of high school athletics.

Her own family is the reason VanderKamp landed at Vicksburg.

She left her job at Heco, formerly Hatfield Electric, in Kalamazoo, after 17 years because “I wanted to be on the same schedule as what my kids were,” she said. “This allowed me to have my summers off with them and Christmas and spring breaks. It’s been just fantastic.

VanderKamp has worked all 21 years alongside athletic director Michael Roy.“Both of them were athletes in school. My daughter was in middle school when I started. I think it was good for them to have me here when they were in high school.”

VanderKamp and Roy were hired into the athletic department within a month of each other.

She realizes how unusual their tenure is when she attends conferences.

“They’ll ask you to stand up, introduce yourself and say what school you’re from, how many years you’ve been an athletic secretary and how many athletic directors you’ve been through,” she said.

“It’s always such pride for me to say I’ve been an athletic secretary ‘X’ amount of years and I’ve only had one athletic director. That’s just not heard of these days.”

Roy, always quick with a quip, looked back at their first year working together.

“I told her from Day One: I’m like a new husband. You train me the way you need me to be,” he laughed.

He then got serious: “She’s the MVP. There’s so much stuff that gets done in this office behind the scenes, and it’s all because of Rhonda VanderKamp.”

Roy is not the only one calling VanderKamp “MVP.”

Seven-year wrestling coach Jeff Mohney echoes that sentiment, noting that his wrestlers call her Mrs. Rhonda or Mrs. V.

“She has never told me ‘no, I don’t have time for that,’” he said. “She handles everything from contracts, referee fees, cancelations, and student-athlete eligibility. She knows every student at Vicksburg and most of their parents.

“What separates her from others is her commitment to the coaching staff and the student-athlete. She is family-driven and lets us be a part of that. She shares stories of her family and asks about ours as well.”

Mohney said one portion of their tenures together stands out in his mind.

“Her commitment to us was not more evident than when masks were required at school,” he said. “We didn’t see her face for over a year. She was trying to keep her families safe to the best of her ability.

The VanderKamp family, from left: son Robert VanderKamp, daughter-in-law Shelby VanderKamp, son-in-law Michael Prior, granddaughter Presley Prior, daughter Andrea Prior, Rhonda VanderKamp, husband Gerrit VanderKamp and father Bob Rainwater. “Now the highlight of my day is seeing Mrs. Rhonda’s smile. Vicksburg wrestling would not be relevant without Mrs. Rhonda’s commitment to us.”

One of VanderKamp’s proudest achievements during her 21 years was the addition of 10 varsity sports: hockey, equestrian plus boys and girls clay target, bowling, lacrosse and skiing.

In addition to her athletic secretary duties, she is also in charge of coordinating attendance and discipline.

“All the sick kids, the late kids, the kids who need to leave early all come through my office,” she said.

“Discipline also comes through my office, although I have help with that now.”

Her typical day begins about 7 a.m., and she is usually greeted by the ringing of phones.

“The kids are coming in with notes they have to get out early, parents are calling for sick children, I’m listening to (phone) messages,” she said.

“Once school starts, it’s constant activity. I always make sure I confirm my refs scheduled for that day, make sure my rosters are ready to go.

“Mike always double checks transportation. It’s a cycle. You just know what needs to be done, and you go with it.”

She said the job has also become a lot busier with the additional sports including “entering every athlete into the athletic software, making sure they’re all getting their awards, keeping on top of coaches when they add athletes, submitting pictures once I receive them onto our website and to boosters so we can print a booklet for each season.”

Time to travel abroad

The travel part of her retirement will include a trip to the Netherlands to visit Suzan Hauwert, who lived with the VanderKamps during the 2001 school year, and to Germany to visit Annika Busch, who lived with the family in 2003. Both were exchange students.

In addition, “My husband spoke Dutch before he spoke English, so his parents came right over on the boat,” the soft-spoken VanderKamp said.

Her husband, Gerrit, was in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany, so they also plan to visit some of his old bases.

While VanderKamp has never visited Europe, both exchange “daughters” have been back to Vicksburg several times to visit.

Rhonda VanderKamp has welcomed thousands of students during her time as athletic and attendance secretary. “Both were in my daughter’s wedding five years ago,” she said. “They’ll join us on vacations or come to visit. It’s such an intense bond we share with them.”

She also is looking forward to spending more time with 2-year-old granddaughter Presley, who lives in Portage with parents Andrea (VanderKamp) and Michael Prior.

Son Robert, and his wife, Shelby, live in Kalamazoo.

While she expects to leave her job in June, she said she does not need a lot of praise or attention – but deservingly is receiving it.

One of those praising her is Vicksburg’s 16-year volleyball coach Katrina Miller.

“Rhonda is a miracle worker” Miller said. “I swear she can do it all!

“As far as impacting my sport, it’s always nice for me to know that things are in order with my team and their paperwork and information.

“I have emailed her at odd hours looking for copies of physical forms or eligibility for tryouts and she is always right on it. She is going to be very missed, but we are happy that she will be able to have some time with herself and with her family.”

While her daily job may be over in June, VanderKamp and the Bulldogs will see each other again.

“I love the kids, I love my co-workers,” VanderKamp said. “I plan to sub if they need me in the office, so it’s not really goodbye. It’s ‘See you around.’”

Pam ShebestPam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Rhonda VanderKamp sits at her desk as she begins her 21st year in the Vicksburg athletic department. (2) VanderKamp has worked all 21 years alongside athletic director Michael Roy. (3) The VanderKamp family, from left: son Robert VanderKamp, daughter-in-law Shelby VanderKamp, son-in-law Michael Prior, granddaughter Presley Prior, daughter Andrea Prior, Rhonda VanderKamp, husband Gerrit VanderKamp and father Bob Rainwater. (4) Rhonda VanderKamp has welcomed thousands of students during her time as athletic and attendance secretary. (Top two and bottom photos by Pam Shebest; family photo courtesy of Rhonda VanderKamp.)

Title IX at 50: Council Term Ends, But Leinaar Leaves Lasting Impact

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

December 7, 2021

Karen Leinaar won’t be retiring from Michigan’s school sports community any time soon – and that’s good news for the hundreds of thousands of athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and more who have benefitted from her work for nearly 40 years.

But Leinaar’s role is changing somewhat, as Friday she completed her final term on the MHSAA’s Representative Council, ending a tenure that began during the 2000-01 school year.

Leinaar has served as one of the two statewide at-large representatives on the Council. She did retire earlier this year as athletic director at Bear Lake schools, the last stop of an athletic administration career that began in 1982 at her alma mater Delton Kellogg and included tenures at Gaylord and Benzie Central.

Leinaar’s variety of experiences and connections all over the state have sourced her “global” viewpoint when working to make the best decisions for MHSAA member schools. And she has been a continuous source of support and Council representation at a multitude of MHSAA championship events, whether taking a role in helping put them on or awarding medals and trophies to champions hailing from all over the state.

Thankfully, her impact will remain significant – Leinaar now serves as executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, the professional organization for school sports administrators in our state.

Leinaar received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award in 1998, a Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in 2000, and she was named MIAAA Athletic Director of the Year in 2001. From 2009-13, she also served on the NFHS Board of Directors.  

Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.

Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights

Nov. 30: Basketball Season Ready to Add to Rich Tradition - Read
Nov. 23: 
Marysville Builds Winning Streak Yet to be Challenged - Read
Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: 
Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: 
Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: 
Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: 
Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: 
Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read

(MHSAA file photos.)