Who We Are
Coaching for Transformation challenges the principles and practices within school athletics to provide alignment from administrator to athlete so that the deep hope of each school is realized through a transformative experience for athletes, coaches, and the wider community.
Leadership Team
Darin Keizer
Director
Darin Keizer serves as the Athletic Director at Dordt University. Previously, he served as Athletic Director at Southwest Christian High School in Chaska, Minnesota, where he also spent time as the Head Varsity Coach and strength and conditioning coach. Elsewhere, Darin has served as an athletic director, head boys basketball coach, and a grad assistant basketball coach. He holds a master's degree in K-12th administration and a certified masters in athletic administration. CfT has helped us think critically about our daily practices and how we teach, train, and share transformational habits with our coaches and athletes.
Matt Coleman
Associate Director
Matt Coleman has been serving as the Director of Athletics at Monte Vista Christian in Watsonville, CA, since 2017. He also serves as the Head Middle School and High School Varsity Girls Lacrosse Coach. Previously, Matt led the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s athletics program for eight years. In addition to holding AD positions in the states of Florida and Ohio, Coleman has served in a number of leadership roles including President and Vice President of the Miami Valley Conference. While Coleman has observed many impressive accomplishments over the years, what has been most personally impactful is watching student-athletes apply the lessons learned from athletics to become passionate leaders, loving servants, and positive contributors to their communities, all while following Christ.
Coleman's purpose as a Director of Athletics is to empower coaches, student-athletes, and parents to live with generosity, act with integrity, pursue excellence, and live a life of purpose.
Bill Harmsen
Director of Program Development
Bill Harmsen has been serving as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Dordt University since 2018. Harmsen has established record-setting performances, including the programs first ever NAIA National Championship in the 23-24 season. Prior to his time at Dordt, Harmsen served over 20 years in Christian education. Most recently he served 17 years as teacher, coach, and assistant principal at Western Christian High School (Hull, Iowa) and was a teacher, coach, and athletic director at Dakota Christian High School (Corsica, South Dakota) before that. He also served as assistant men’s basketball coach at University of Sioux Falls (South Dakota) and as the head girls’ basketball coach at Sioux Falls Christian.
Harmsen’s goal is to use the relationships and opportunities that athletics provides to equip his athletes with spiritual, social, and emotional skills to establish lives built on Jesus Christ.
Joel Penner
Director of Coaching Development
Joel Penner has been serving as the head coach of the Dordt football program since 2016. During his time at Dordt, the football program has seen increasing success. Seven Defenders have received All-American status under Penner, and he guided his team to the program's first NAIA National tournament appearance in 2020. Since 2018, his teams have also earned NAIA Scholar-Team status each year. Prior to his time at Dordt, Penner spent 19 years coaching college football with stops at Malone (Ohio), Northwestern College (Iowa), Trinity International (Illinois), Greenville (Illinois), and Pacific Lutheran (Washington).
Penner’s mission is to honor God in the way he stewards the program, building men and leading players to fight to compete fiercely out of a secure identity in Christ.
Jon Young
Curriculum and Resources
Jon Young has been the Athletic Director at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Ohio since 2012. Previously, he was the Athletic Director at Brookings-Harbor School for five years. Jon has his Ph.D. in organizational Leadership from Columbia International University.
Captains
Shane Hansen
Christian Life Coach
Shane Hansen has served as a Christian life coach, author, and speaker since 2015 through his "buinistry" (business/ministry), Shane Hansen, Christian Life Coach, LLC. In this capacity Shane has helped hundreds of brothers & sisters in Christ "co-create" their journey with the Lord, so that they can live intentional & impactful lives aligned with God’s purpose and abiding in his peace. Shane is also involved in the Christian publishing industry, and has authored four books of his own.
With over 15 years of experience as an athletics administrator (including 10 years as an athletic director -- most recently at Sheboygan Christian School), and having served as a baseball coach at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels, Shane fully understands the many joys & challenges associated with the athletics experience. Shane's mission in Christian athletics is to use the unique opportunities that sports provide as a ministry to experience & teach God's truths, while preparing the next generation of student-athletes for impactful lives of leadership in Jesus' name. A former collegiate student-athlete, Shane has a BA in Athletics Administration, MBA in Business, and is a Certified Professional Life Coach. Shane and his wife, Sarah, are blessed with six wonderful children.
Thor Benson
Southwest Christian
Dr. Thor Benson is the Dean of Faculty and the head boys lacrosse coach at Southwest Christian High School in Chaska, MN. He also facilitates the Leadership Academy at Southwest Christian and is an adjunct faculty in biology at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul. Dr. Benson holds a BS in Kinesiology and a minor in coaching (Wheaton College), a masters in Educational Leadership (Bethel University), and a PhD in Science Education & Learning Technologies (U of Minnesota). Throughout his teaching experience, Thor has taught every grade from kindergarten to graduate students. During his career, Thor has been an athletic director, coached college baseball, high school lacrosse and tennis and run multiple camps and clinics at the youth and high school level. Dr. Benson is a school designer for Teaching for Transformation, which has fueled his passion for teaching and learning as he invites teachers and students to reflect and respond to the good life in Christ through a deeper, more engaging story. When not teaching or coaching, Thor can be found mountain biking, playing tennis or pickleball, or enjoying a lawn game and spending time with his wife and three children.
Brad & Jan Jungling
Pella Christian
Brad and Jan Jungling are from Pella, IA. Jan has been involved in education and athletics for many years, both in teaching and coaching. She currently is the assistant to the Athletic Director at Pella Christian Schools and an assistant coach in the girls' basketball program. Brad has been in the business world for over 30 years in various leadership roles. He has coached youth sports and has been an assistant football coach at Pella Christian High School since 2011. Brad and Jan have three adult children who have been involved in high school and college athletics.
Lead Coaches
Beck Brydon
Second Baptist
Beck Brydon is the head football coach at Second Baptist in Houston, TX. Previous to this position, he was the Athletic Director at Regents School of Austin since 2006. Coach “B” has coached various sports at Regents since 1997 and was the Varsity Head Football Coach from 2000-2019. He served as Regents’ Director of Advancement from 2004-2006. He is currently an Executive Board Member of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), the primary governing body of private school athletics and fine arts in the state of Texas. Coach B’s vision is to redeem sports for Christ - one heart, one team and one event at a time. While seemingly a monumental task given today’s culture, it is the primary goal from which all 90+ coaches of 55 athletic teams spanning 15 different sports at Regents, operate. He has a passion for helping others view sports through a Christian worldview lens and he became a Colson Fellow in spring 2021. He and his wife Trish, an 8th grade English teacher at Regents, have three wonderful children.
Brad Vis
Western Christian
Brad works at Western Christian School, serving in the role as Director of Mission Advancement. He believes that faculty, staff, and coaches have been called by God at this time in history to teach and train the next generation to know and serve the Lord. Brad lives in Rock Valley, IA with his wife, Pam and they have three adult children.