MVP behind the scenes

If you’ve been to a sporting event in or around Creston recently, chances are good you’ve seen Jeff Veitz.

When not working as an income maintenance worker for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, the 40-year-old Creston native is busy wearing several sports-related hats.

Veitz began working as an official for several different sports as a 20-year-old college student working as a baseball umpire at middle school-age baseball games at McKinley Field in Creston. Two decades later he continues to work several games a year in multiple sports, and coordinates the scheduling of local officials for sub-varsity football and basketball contests hosted by Creston and East Union.

Jenny, Jeff’s wife, works at KSIB and offered a solution when station owner Chad Rieck mentioned the need for additional people to broadcast reports from postseason tournament sites in the area.

“We were kind of scrambling a few years ago to find people to give reports from multiple tournament sites, and Jenny said Jeff could probably help if he wasn’t officiating that night,” Rieck recalled. “He continues to help us out. It’s like having John Walters for wrestling when we need him. You can count on him to show up and he’ll do a good job.”

Jeff and Jenny are the parents of two daughters, Payton in ninth grade and Riley in fourth grade. So, naturally, the son of a former coach has made a smooth transition into coaching youth softball and basketball for teams involving their daughters.

Jeff is the son of Deb and the late Gary Veitz, who was a longtime middle school wrestling and football coach and youth baseball coach for Jeff’s teams growing up.

And, after many years working as an official, Jeff Veitz took on even more roles for local games. He runs the play clock at Creston home football games, and the game clock for home basketball games. Longtime officiating partner Scott Busch operates the shot clock, seated next to Veitz on the official bench. Busch is also an official scorer for SWCC home basketball games in addition to his officiating work.

It’s a whirlwind of activity, just the way Jeff Veitz likes it.

“You don’t do those things because it’s a job,” Veitz said. “You do them because you love it and you love the sport. It’s great being around the coaches and the kids as an official, and coaching is rewarding because you want to pass on your knowledge and experience to help the kids get better.”

The scheduling of officials for all games played in seventh grade through junior varsity in two sports is of particular assistance to the school’s athletic department, notes Activities Director Scott Driskell. Veitz succeeded Busch in that duty after Busch became the school district’s transportation director. The late Steve “Magic” McCann handled the scheduling for many years prior to that.

“That’s such an enormous time saver for us,” Driskell said. “Sometimes when we have several levels going it’s hard to fill all of the spots on game days, but he has a good selection of local officials who will do it for us.”

Driskell said it’s helpful to have someone who has worked as an official to run the football play clock. It’s a 40-second clock after most plays, but reset to 25 seconds following specific administrative stoppages, such as penalties, timeouts and injuries.

“When I tell our game officials the guys on the clock have officiated, they are automatically more comfortable,” Driskell said. “We’ve never had an issue with Jeff working it. When I have to manage all of the other things going on, it’s so much easier for me as an administrator to have dependable table volunteers.”

Driskell said Veitz recently agreed to fill another role in the athletic department, succeeding longtime public address announcer Todd Jacobson at home softball games this summer. With his older daughter now in high school sports, he has decreased his umpiring load.

“Jeff gives back to the school and the sports. He truly gets it,” Driskell said. “He knows that successful schools have that volunteer component. Gary Veitz did some officiating for wrestling and he coached. When you’re the son of a teacher you get it. Melissa (Driskell’s wife) has been president of the booster club for several years now and there’s always that struggle for memberships as kids move on, the parents want to as well. Jeff’s wife, Jenny, joined the booster club and got involved and is vice president now. She’s a go-getter, too.”

Athletic background

Veitz grew up playing multiple sports. He played football and basketball through his freshman year of high school, and competed in baseball and golf through his senior year. He said his experience in athletics made for an easy transition into his officiating pursuits, which began as an umpire with the late Allyn Monaghan at local games.

Before long, he was working with state tournament veterans like Busch and Steve Shantz in baseball and softball, and Hall of Fame officials in football and basketball such as McCann, Ron “Fox” Clinton, Paul Somers and Brad Baker.

“I remember the first softball game I ever did was a varsity game at Corning with Jerry Hartman,” Veitz said. “When you’re starting out it’s great to have those guys with so much experience as a partner. They help you work on where you are supposed to be, and what you are supposed to be looking for. Just little things like how to conduct a home plate meeting.”

Busch said Veitz was a rapid learner, and now serves as a mentor for the current generation of new officials.

“It’s always good to have young officials come in,” Busch said. “When Jeff expressed interest we knew he had a significant background in sports. We were just teaching him what we had been taught. He was a good listener and took right to it. It’s so nice when you know your partner will handle the responsibilities. Jeff is a rules guru. He knows the rules inside and out. If he doesn’t know something, he looks it up. He knows how to block out the crowd and work with the coaches and the kids. I’m proud of him.”

Veitz said the positive aspects of officiating outweigh the less appealing aspects, such as being the target of fans shouting their displeasure with calls during a game.

“It takes some time to get used to it,” Veitz said. “What you learn is that people will yell no matter which way you call, so you have to let it go. The main thing is to work with the coaches who have complaints. You don’t get agitated, you talk calmly to them. I think it helps when you’ve played the sport and you know what the players are going through. You have been there. When you officiate a lot it helps with broadcasting, too. You’ve seen a lot of games and a lot of strategies from different teams.”

Father’s footsteps

After trying all of those different things in sports, it’s all come back to his father’s first love. When asked to pick a favorite activity among officiating, broadcasting and coaching, Veitz didn’t hesitate in offering an answer.

“My dad coached me all the way through until high school in baseball and that was my first passion,” Veitz said. “It was a natural transition to coaching softball for our daughters. It’s a great way to bond. I coach 10U travel softball with Andrea Galanakis and basketball with Jim Ide with our younger daughter’s group. I coached our older daughter on the local team and she also played club ball for other coaches. You get to be around the excitement the kids have for playing. It’s a lot of fun. And, since you can’t play anymore as an adult, it’s a great way to stay involved in competition.”

In his full-time job, Veitz determines financial eligibility for SNAP food assistance and Medicaid benefits.

“I work at home three weeks a month and one week I cover shifts in the office,” Veitz said. “I can flex my hours. I’m off by 3:30 most days that I need to get to things.”

While he’s probably been present at more sporting events the past few years than just about anyone in Creston, Jeff Veitz is rarely sitting in the bleachers with most of the fans. It’s likely he was wearing a whistle, speaking into a radio microphone or coaching on the sidelines.

“It’s not too often that I’m just sitting at a game watching, but it is kind of a nice break when I do,” Veitz said.