Vander Klay's Dedication to Wyoming Schools Netted 400+ Wins, Trip to Breslin
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
April 6, 2026
WYOMING – Over the past 31 years, it was relatively easy to notice a boys basketball team coached by Thom Vander Klay.
Athletic and tough-nosed players who competed hard while playing an up-tempo offense and in-your-face defense were trademarks of his teams at Wyoming Park and Wyoming High School.
“In some ways, at Wyoming Park, and then Wyoming, our athletes have been very similar through those 31 years of varsity,” Vander Klay said.
“Some teams were more skilled and more athletic than others, but they were the same. We never had big kids. We’ve always had kind of gritty kids that would compete hard and play fast, and we had quite a few of them on every team. That bled into what we did.”
Vander Klay will retire from teaching after 40 years at the end of May, and his time as the longtime basketball coach will end as well.
“It’s been a struggle, and it’s hard because it’s my home,” Vander Klay said. “I live in Wyoming, my kids went to Wyoming and I went to Wyoming (Park). I’m the youngest of three and my older brother and sister were Vikings and that’s who I was. I was Wyoming, and I still am, so it was really difficult to say I was going to step away from things I really enjoyed doing.”
Vander Klay has been coaching for 41 years. He was the junior varsity coach at Wyoming Park before replacing Kelly McEwen in 1995.
When Wyoming Park and Wyoming Rogers merged in 2012, he became the head coach at the new Wyoming High School.
During his tenure, he went 424-274 as a varsity coach and won nine conference championships, six District titles and one Regional title. He also helped coach football and track & field.
“So many memories and so many kids, and you love those kids,” said Vander Klay, who coached his two sons, Brock and Chase. “When I think back to when I started, guys like Jack VerDuin, Ron Engels, Dick Locke, Frank Grimm and Kelly McEwen were great mentors that I had. I go back to those days and blink, and here we are 40 years later and I'm the old guy.”
Vander Klay’s best season came in 2004 at Wyoming Park, led by eventual Michigan State standout Drew Neitzel. The Vikings advanced to the Class B Semifinals, losing to Detroit Renaissance.
Vander Klay was named Class B Coach of the Year and enjoyed his time coaching Neitzel, the Mr. Basketball Award winner who is widely considered one of the best players in program history.
“Drew was so well-rounded,” Vander Klay said. “A great leader, great student, great attitude and just mentally tough and so skilled.
“Coaching him was more about trying to get all five guys on the same page, but those teams that Drew played on, we had good players other than him, too. It wasn't just him because we had other guys who stepped up – but he was the best player in the state.”
Jacob Underhill, Vander Klay’s longtime assistant and junior varsity coach, said Vander Klay has been more than just a mentor.
“He has been the blueprint for the teacher and coach I strive to be,” Underhill said. “He has always been incredibly gracious in sharing his knowledge of the game and his wisdom on how to lead young men. Every decision he makes is filtered through a single focus: doing what is best for the students and athletes of Wyoming.
“While his retirement marks the end of an era, his legacy is undeniable. Since the merger of Wyoming Park and Wyoming Rogers, he has been the heartbeat of the basketball program. He has had a profound impact on my professional career, and I cherish the time we’ve spent serving the community together.”
Underhill has witnessed firsthand the influence Vander Klay has had on former players with whom he has reconnected.
“It’s a true testament to his character,” Underhill said. “He is an exceptional human being who makes everyone around him better and ensures they recognize their own value.”
The 62-year-old Vander Klay is keeping his options open in terms of a return to coaching elsewhere.
“I’ll take some time off and maybe there is something else out there,” he said. “I'm wide open to anything, and maybe I’ll coach again and maybe not. We will see what the future holds.”
Two other longtime Grand Rapids-area coaches also stepped down after longstanding careers on the hardwood.
Unity Christian coach Scott Soodsma retired after 43 years on the sidelines. He won more than 800 games and three MHSAA Finals championships as a boys and girls coach. Soodsma coached his last game in the Division 2 Boys Basketball Final at Breslin Center. The Crusaders lost to Freeland, 42-32.
Sparta boys basketball coach Scott Berry also retired after 34 seasons. He won 245 games at Comstock Park and Sparta.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Coach Thom Vander Klay (kneeling) talks to his Wyoming Park team during a break in its 2004 Class B Semifinal at Breslin Center. (Middle) Vander Klay (kneeling) coaches his Wyoming High team. (Top photo from MHSAA archives; middle photo submitted by Thom Vander Klay.)
EGR's Newton Returns to Rink Amid Speedy Recovery from Double Lung Transplant
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
January 22, 2025
EAST GRAND RAPIDS – The last thing Chris Newton wanted to do was miss any time away from the hockey rink this season.
But when the East Grand Rapids hockey coach received a 3 a.m. phone call last month, he knew it was inevitable.
Newton also knew he would be receiving the possibility for a longer life and an opportunity to continue his lifelong passion.
Newton, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 4 months old, received news that a set of donor lungs was available, and he began the process of undergoing a second double lung transplant.
“I get a call and it was a 616 number so I knew exactly what it was, but I was totally shocked,” Newton, 35, said. “I definitely didn’t go back to sleep after that, and my mom was there visiting and everyone was surprised that it happened so quickly. If they find a good set, you can’t pass on it.”
Newton, a former Farmington High School goalie and assistant coach, had his first double lung transplant eight years ago.
“It was always in the cards that I would need one,” said Newton, a senior on the 2007-08 team that reached the Division 2 Semifinals and later an assistant coach for his dad, the late Bill Newton, with the 2013-14 Falcons squad that won the Division 3 title.
“I have a weird CF gene, and I don't qualify for the really good medicine they make that has made a difference in a lot of people's lives. A transplant was my only option as my health was decreasing pretty rapidly. And then, after eight years, you get rejection and they call it CLAD (chronic lung allograft dysfunction). The body starts rejecting lungs even though they had been good for like six years.”
Newton was diagnosed with CLAD two years ago, and it started slowly progressing.
He re-listed for another transplant in November, and 14 days later received the good news. It was two days after he collected his 100th career coaching victory.
“In comparison, the first time it was a 3½ month wait,” Newton said. “I had surgery on Dec. 10 at Corewell Health, and I came back to practice on Jan. 6. I missed two weeks of hockey with the three-week break we had, so it worked out.
“I feel great, and it's crazy to be back so quickly, but I feel good. The other sickness I have is coaching. I’m almost addicted to it when it's hockey season, and it’s really the only thing I think about. It’s what I do during these months, and it’s how I’m wired. When it happened, it was like this is perfect timing. I’m barely going to miss anything.”
The EGR hockey community has supported Newton throughout his transplant and recovery, and his players were motivated to give their best effort with their coach on the mend.
“Obviously it's been a long road for him, and it’s not the first time he has had this double lung transplant,” EGR senior center James Albers said. “It’s been pretty incredible, and all the guy wants to do is just coach hockey. He puts in all the fight, so I think the guys rally around him and want to do it for him, get big wins.
“We didn’t talk about it, but we wanted to play our best hockey for him because all he wants to do is show up at the rink for us. I have people at school ask me all the time how he’s doing, and it’s awesome to tell them that he looks incredible and is back on the ice after only a month.”
Senior Owen Stropkai has been on the varsity since his freshman year and has become close with his beloved coach.
“It’s great to have him back, and the positivity that he brings is awesome,” Stropkai said. “Every day it's a new level, and our team pushes for him. What he's been going through is horrible, but we think of him every day and grind together for him. He’s a great guy.”
Grant Newton, EGR’s associate head coach and no relation, took over the program in Chris Newton’s absence.
“We have a really good relationship, and we are close off the ice,” Chris Newton said. “I coached him at Farmington when we won a state championship, and he has helped me get the program to where it is.
“I went to him this summer, and we had a plan in place. I made sure he was comfortable taking over for me, and he did a great job.”
Chris Newton, whose family includes wife Jessie and sons Liam (6) and Carter (3), has transformed EGR into a perennial powerhouse the past few years.
The Pioneers have made back-to-back appearances in the Division 3 Final. They lost to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood 3-2 in triple overtime last year and suffered a 3-2 loss to Flint Powers Catholic in 2023.
EGR reeled off seven straight wins to open this season and is currently 12-3-1 and tied for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Rue despite heavy graduation losses last spring.
“The one thing that is great about this team is we haven’t stopped what we've been doing the last two years when we’ve had success,” Chris Newton said. “We’re sticking to details and making it more about the program than individuals.
“Our motto this year is being uncommon. I wanted that way back in the summer before this even happened. The motto has stuck to me, that I'm uncommon, but I wanted our kids to compete and be uncommon daily, and they’ve done that. It’s been a great group to be around and a group I wanted to get back to as quickly as I could.”
Chris Newton was blessed to have a superb transplant team help him navigate the process.
“The people there were great, and my surgeon was absolutely incredible,” he said. “They are good and talented people, and the nursing staff made it way easier than I expected.
“Obviously, no guarantees or anything, and everything is going well right now,” he added. “I’m still being seen a lot and being tested, but no number can be put on it. Eight years was a good run with the first set, but you just don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball as to what will happen.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids hockey coach Chris Newton instructs his team during a practice. (Middle) Newton directs his players on the bench during a game. (Below) Newton takes a photo with members of this season’s EGR team. (Photos by Grant Newton.)