Kaefer, Ringel Named Coaches of the Year

Editor's Note: This article was written and submitted by representatives of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.

Rob Kaefer has been selected as Newsday’s 2012 Coach of the Year for the District’s Girls Aquatic Team.

Kaefer has been teaching in the District for 19 years and this is his 17th year coaching the girls swim team. He started coaching both the boys and girls teams due to his own love of the sport.  

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He swam for Wantagh H.S. where he qualified as All-County each year, as well as for the State Championships in multiple events. He then went on to swim for Stony Brook University where he qualified as All-Metropolitan.   

This is the first time that Kaefer was selected by Newsday as a Long Island Coach of the Year, but the second year that he was selected as swim Coach of the Year by the Nassau County Girls Swim Coaches Association. This was also the first year that Kaefer coached the girls swim team to their first ever Conference 1 Title. 

Dennis Ringel was also selected as Newsday’s 2012 Coach of the Year for the John F. Kennedy High School Boys Volleyball Team.

Ringel has been with the Bellmore-Merrick CHSD since September, 2005 and is a Health and Physical Education Teacher at Kennedy and Calhoun High Schools. He is a graduate of Lock Haven University and received his Masters Degree from Stony Brook University. 

Ringel has led the boys’ volleyball team to a 23-0 undefeated season, capturing the Nassau County Championship (fourth in the last five years) the Long Island Championship and the New York State Championship, the only boys’ team from Long Island to win a state title.   

Ringel has previously coached the Mepham High School Girls Volleyball team to Conference Championships. Some of Ringel's graduates include one American Volleyball Coaches Association High School All-American, six first-team all-state honorees, one State MVP, four county MVPs, and one district MVP, all of whom have gone on to play at many top colleges and universities.