Wellington Heat announces future plans, name Brett Clark and Ryan Jenkins as co-head coaches
From left: co-head coach Brett Clark, Team President Sheldon Howell, and co-head coach Ryan Jenkins.
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington Heat will be returning with new coaches and a new owner next spring. But it will continue to produce quality collegiate-level baseball for local fans.
The organization held a press conference at Sellers Park this afternoon to announce the changes and reiterate that the Heat will be returning next summer. Sheldon Howell, Commissioner of the Kansas Collegiate League, has also become President of the Heat. Wellington is now a 501c3 non-profit organization underneath the KCL organization. Howell will lead much the same way as former Heat owner Rick Twyman did, but will also be responsible for the league and four other teams.
The Heat named Wellington residents Ryan Jenkins and Brett Clark as co-head coaches of the team.
The Heat moved to Wellington in 2013 and will open its ninth season at Sellers next May.
“We are excited to have the Wellington Heat here in our community,” said Wellington City Manager Shane Shields at the press conference. “They have had a long history here and we look forward to a new chapter with them.”
Clark and Jenkins will be sharing head coaching duties. Clark and his family have been living in Wellington since 2016. He is currently employed with the Wellington school district and will be an assistant under Jenkins during the spring for the Wellington High School baseball team.
Jenkins is a Wellington High School graduate and head coach for the Crusaders for a second year.
“Having two head coaches is pretty typical for summer baseball,” Howell said. “A lot of coaches use summer ball to bounce into more prestigious collegiate jobs in the spring.”
Howell said he is excited to have coaches with a local presence and will be able to take care of the Heat needs 12 months a year.
“Rick spent his winter in Arizona and unfortunately couldn’t make it back for some of the things that needed to be tended to here in Kansas,” Howell said. “It will help to have the coaching staff as well as myself who live here.”
Howell also works with the Park City Rangers, the Valley Center Mud Daubers, McPherson Pipeliners, and the Midwest Moos. The Heat will be the lone team he will be the President of.
Jenkins said he is excited to start recruiting. Both he and Clark have diverse enough resumes to have a significant web of recruting potential. Clark grew up on the west coast while Jenkins will recruit players on the east coast.
“We should have our team intact before the high school baseball season,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said he hopes to bring Wellington Heat baseball back to the excitement of the early years. The Heat were NBC World Series Runner-up during its first season in Wellington in 2013 and placed fifth two-years later. However, Wellington had a rough season last season.
“Our hope with our truly local presence is we can continue to grow the Heat brand,” Howell said.
