Jason Reindl has returned home.

On June 1, the University of Saskatchewan will welcome Jason Reindl as its new full-time head coach of cross country and track and field. Reindl is a U of S alumnus living in New Brunswick and is excited to get back to his home team.

Reindl graduated from the U of S in 2006 with a kinesiology degree and spent his four years at university as a proud Huskie athlete. He was on the track and field team at the U of S, and he looks back on his experience being a Huskie and remembers it fondly.

“[My experience] was immensely positive. I was part of the national championship- winning team in 2005, so being able to win multiple Canada West titles all in all was just a very amazing experience, and I’m very humbled to have experienced it at the U of S,” Reindl said.

Not only was Reindl a member of the track and field team but he also started coaching early on. He has lots of experience with coaching cross country and track and field, which has been his full-time profession since he graduated.

“I started coaching in 2002, when I was still an athlete,” Reindl said. “Just after the 2006 National Championships, I started coaching full time and was an assistant coach with the Saskatoon Track Club and the assistant coach with the Huskies starting in [the] fall of 2006.”

For the last five years, Reindl has been the head coach at the University of New Brunswick, which he enjoys along with several other coaching pursuits.

“I am currently in Saint John, N.B. I am the high performance coach for the province of New Brunswick, the head coach for the University of New Brunswick and [the] club coach with the Saint John Track Club,” Reindl said.

Reindl’s passion for athletics started early on and stemmed from his positive experiences as a member of the track and field team. These experiences made him want to continue to choose coaching as a full-time career.

“As an athlete, I was privileged to experience a number of positive events and activities that allowed me to travel across North America and make amazing friends and relationships … [I have] the opportunity to be a part of that and [make sure] the athletes that I now get to work with … get to experience such amazing things and activities,” Reindl said.

Reindl will be the first person in the position of full time head coach for cross country and track and field, and he says that feels amazing.

“It’s just absolutely shocking, still, that I got this opportunity to really lead the team and the program that gave me so much, and hopefully, bring it back to a perennial power in the nation. I’m humbled to be given this leadership role,” Reindl said.

After having the chance to leave Saskatchewan and coach in other parts of the country, Reindl has developed his coaching skills further, and he now looks forward to bringing those skills back to his home city.

“The big things [I will bring] are a new outlook and mindset for the team and the program. [I have] had the opportunity to coach on the other side of the country and make a number of connections to the coaching community, internationally. I feel like I can contribute to the coaching staff [and] the culture of excellence that we want to pursue, and overall, bring a new level of leadership that the program can thrive under,” Reindl said.

For Reindl, this will be a welcome move.

“I’m very much excited to be coming back home and wearing the green.”

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Lyndsay Afseth / Staff Writer

Photo: Kravest Photography / Supplied