Your future, our focus
California Native Will Also Take Position In P.E. Department
Northwest College recently named Stephen Burmaster as the college’s new athletic director.
Burmaster, a native of Southern California, and his family will make the move to Powell sometime before July, and Burmaster will take the reigns on July 1.
Burmaster takes over for NWC wrestling coach Jim Zeigler, who had been working as the interim AD for the past two years.
“I’m looking forward to working with him, and he can fill me in on the way things work and what’s going on,” Burmaster said of Zeigler.
Zeigler, meanwhile, said he is happy to see a new face step into the position, and said he’s excited to be able to put his full attention into his wrestling program.
“I’m really anxious to get back to really concentrating on coaching, which I’ve been doing, but (being athletic director) does take away from that a little bit,” Zeigler said. “But I’ll get back into the classroom and start teaching again and I’ll get back to where I was before I started this. “It’s time for me to get out, and I think it’s better, with the coaches, to have a fresh person in here and I think it’s a great idea.”
Burmaster brings with him nearly 30 years of officiating, coaching, teaching and administration experience, most recently at Seaside Middle School in Monteray, California, where he served as an administrator and athletic director. He also has a long history as a physical education teacher, and will work as a P.E. instructor at Northwest starting in the fall.
Burmaster said the small-town atmosphere lured he and his family to Powell.
“Small town, there’s a lot of support there. Eight hundred of the 1,200 students live on campus, so it has a small, private college feel like I had at Cornerstone (University, Grand Rapids, Michigan),” he said. “It’s just a great town ... a beautiful town.”
Burmaster arrives following a wealth of success for the Trapper athletics, whose volleyball team placed fourth in the nation in November and whose men’s basketball and wrestling teams made national tournament appearances in March.
“I really want to work hard to continue the excellence that has been going on already,” Burmaster said. “I think it’s a great situation ... you can definitely pack up a gym. When you have winning programs, everybody wants to be a part of that.”
Burmaster said he plans to be a very involved AD, and hopes to play a part in the success of NWC’s athletic programs.
“I’m going to be a coach’s athletic director; ‘I’m here to support you,’” he added.
Burmaster also said he envisions Powell and Northwest College as a permanent destination.
“My goal is to be the long-term guy. This is not a stepping stone for me,” he said. “Powell is the town where we’d like our kids to grow up ... we’d like them to go to college there.
“This is the best fit for my family and my background and expertise. It’s my dream job for me to be in the athletic department and the P.E. department.”