SUAMICO – Bay Port High School recently lost a pair of head coaches.
Steve Jeffers, the boys’ swimming coach for the last six years and 12 years total, and Thiago Barbosa, the leader of the volleyball program for one season, have both stepped down.
A swimming dynasty
Jeffers helped lead the Pirates to 10 conference titles, five WIAA Division 1 sectional championships and four sectional runner-up finishes.
Jeffers spent the 2014/15 season as an assistant coach – a year Bay Port didn’t win a conference title because the pool at Lineville was being constructed and the team had to commute to UW-Green Bay (UWGB) for practice.
Under Jeffers’ guidance, the Pirates went undefeated in all dual and triangular meets, including all conference meets.
Also, Bay Port went undefeated in conference championship meets under Jeffers.
In 2011, Jeffers’ 200-meter freestyle relay team won the state title.
Jeffers has a wife, Keri, who is a teacher at Jackson School in Green Bay for 26 years; a son, Alec, in his sophomore year at UW-Stevens Point on the swimming team; and Brock, a senior at Bay Port who will attend Madison College this fall to play soccer.
Volleyball has most wins ever
Barbosa, a native of Brazil, led the Pirates to their first-ever Fox River Classic Conference title in 2019 with an overall record of 29-3, being named the FRCC Coach of the Year.
Bay Port also won a WIAA Division 1 regional last season.
Before coming to Bay Port, Barbosa was an assistant coach at UWGB in 2017.
He helped the team reach the championship match of the Horizon League Tournament and the quarterfinal round of the 2017Â National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
From 2014-2017, Barbosa was a volunteer assistant at West Virginia University (WVU), where he coached for three years.
Barbosa also played collegiately and professionally in Brazil and Europe.
He owns a bachelor’s degree in coaching and physical education from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and a master’s degree in athletic coaching from WVU.
Barbosa is moving to California this summer with his wife, Jana Fogaça, and their daughter, Alice.
Interested candidates should contact Bay Port Athletics Director Brian Matz to inquire about possible interest in both openings.