Employment: Happy Homecoming For Medfield Rec Director

BY JOSH PERRY

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In 2013, Kevin Ryder (better known to many families in Medfield as “Coach Kevin”) left Medfield Park and Recreation to take the Program Amdiministrator job in Wellesley. In the middle of December, Ryder returned to the town that he fell in love with to become the department’s new director, a position that had been vacant since James Snyder left in the fall.

It was a move that Ryder described as a “no-brainer.” for him.

“I had maintained a lot of strong contacts with families in town after I left,” he explained while sitting in the Pfaff Center on Monday. “There were a lot of strong bonds that I created here, which is why when I left it was so tough. So, I hadn’t even heard yet that Jim had left…and a couple moms reached out to me. The messages that I got were, do we get you back?”

He added, “It was a community that I grew to love and I feel a lot of people responded to the programs that we implemented and the things that we wanted to do when I was here.”

After 13 months on the job in Wellesley, Ryder, who worked in Medfield for five years before switching towns, was ready to make the jump to a director position and was ready to bring some new ideas to Medfield.

“I think that what I was able to gain in Wellesley is going to pay off hugely for Medfield,” he said. “My boss there, Jan [Maroney Kaseta]...was an amazing boss that gave me incredible freedom to do what we wanted to do and explore the programs that we wanted to try.”

Ryder continued, “I don’t think I would be able to take this job on today, if I was coming straight from my role in Medfield.”

While there are significant differences between the facilities in Wellesley, which has a three-floor building with a gymnasium, and the Pfaff Center, Ryder is confident that the programming can continue to grow in Medfield even if it can sometimes resemble “controlled chaos in the building.”

One of the reasons for the enthusiasm in the department right now is the town’s purchase of the State Hospital property, which gives Ryder hope that a new recreation center can be built as well as more fields for residents to use.

“Now that the town has the land up at the State Hospital, being able to take that 39 acres and being able to develop a new recreation center, new fields, and kind of a new park and rec area up there that the town can be proud of is the number one goal right now,” said Ryder, echoing comments made by Snyder when he left in September.

The other reason for the energy in the Pfaff Center, according to Ryder, is the staff of the Recreation Department. From the instructors and the volunteers to Brian Schools, who maintains the town’s fields, to Kayode Lewis, who replaced Ryder as program coordinator in 2013.

“When he applied for the job, [Kayode] called me in Wellesley and we spoke for 30-40 minutes about the questions he had. I relayed that to the commission that he called and he was awesome,” said Ryder.

He added, “We’re on the same level in terms of what we want to accomplish here and I think we’re really in line in what we see for the future of the department.”

After receiving texts, Facebook messages, emails, and more from Medfield families, Coach Kevin is back in Medfield and no one is happier about than him.

“My wife said that when I got hired I seemed like the happiest guy,” he explained with a smile. 

“On Friday of my first week here…this girl saw me out of the corner of her eye and came running over to give me a big hug,” Ryder continued. “I went home to my wife and I said that instantly cinched it that it was the right move for me.”

For more information about Medfield Park and Recreation, visit www.medfieldrec.com.