Luke Shepherd, known as Coach Shep, is a coach focusing on the player first mentality.  He is a hitting instructor and the manager of The WAVE Athletics.  He has spent the last 20+ years coaching athletics (softball, baseball, basketball, track, and golf).  Shepherd spent 15 years as a strength and conditioning coach, and he earned his Exercise Science degree at UNO. He has a passion for biomechanics (how they body moves through activities).  

In 2014 Coach Shep was transferred to Lincoln for his job as a club manager for Prairie Life Fitness.  He worked for Prairie Life Fitness for 16+ years as a trainer, fitness director and club manager before taking over as general manager at The WAVE Athletics in July of 2020.  Prairie Life Fitness taught him a lot about what it is like to work for and be taught by a "people first" mentality which parallels his coaching style, and what The WAVE Athletics is all about. 

Coach Shep spends most of his time coaching, and with his two daughters and wife (Melissa).  In his down time he spends it watching coaching videos on hitting and mental training.  

He works with both baseball and softball players.  

Amanda Schaefer, most know her as Coach AB, is a Pitching Instructor and Mental Skills Coach. She runs Fearless Fastpitch with a mission to impact young women on and off the softball field, preparing leaders for life outside the chalk lines. She currently serves as the Head Coach of Waverly High School Softball and is in her 3rd year with the program.

For the past 8 years, she has been instructing pitchers all over Nebraska as well as virtually in the midwest. Her philosophy is to create foundational mechanics to increase velocity and command while most importantly keeping pitchers mechanically safe to avoid injury. She pitched at Concordia University in Seward and received her degree in Business Administration.

She has also spent the last 2 years studying Performance Psychology as it relates to the mental side of softball. She teaches Mental Skills Training nationwide and coaches softball athletes in 24 different states! Through the Fearless Warrior Program, she has created a 3-Phase Framework to help softball players overcome their fears, increase their confidence, and perform at their best when it matters most!

Work with Coach AB:
Mental Skills Training Waitlist: fearlesswarriorprogram.com/waitlist
Pitching Lesson Waitlist: Email amanda@fearlessfastpitch.com

She is excited to build a strong community at the Wave. Be sure to say hello when you see her or find her in the Fearless Cage #6!

I am a former pitcher for the Nebraska Wesleyan softball team and I am currently an assistant coach on their team as a pitching coach.

I lettered four years with the Prairie Wolves and appeared in 75 games and I am 6th all-time in school history in appearances.

I currently am in my fourth year as head coach for Prodigy Easton.

Originally from Northern California (Redding, CA), Kacie was a three-sport athlete at Foothill High School Cougars in Palo Cedro, CA and very active in 4-H and raised cattle for the county fair. Kacie spent her collegiate playing career at Chico State (2010-2011) and Colorado State University (CSU) during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. At CSU, she majored in Animal Science with a minor in Business Administration. During her junior season at CSU, she started in 21 games and appeared in 29 games. This is also where she earned Mountain West Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-Region honors and earning All-Mountain West honors. Senior season, she started 27 games and appeared in 34 games with a 2.37 ERA in conference play. She earned Academic All-Conference accolades and Mountain West All-Conference team honors.

Following her senior season, she stayed on staff as an undergraduate coach helping in the bullpen with pitchers and completing her degree. Finding joy in giving back to the game and helping pitchers improve in the circle (mentally and physically) and off the field, she joined the staff at New Mexico State University (NMSU) as a Graduate Assistant and pursued a Master’s in Animal Science.

Following her two and half years at NMSU she pursued a doctorate in Animal Science at North Dakota State University in Fargo. She now lives in York, NE with her fiancé and works at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the Beef Cow-Calf Specialist in the Animal Science department.

Robert Youngdahl spent time on the coaching staff at Morehead State.

Youngdahl came to Morehead State with Aoki after serving as the volunteer assistant at Notre Dame since the fall of 2015. He played for the Irish in 2014 and 2015.

As a coach he mentored his first All-ACC selection in 2017, when sophomore center-fielder Matt Vierling was selected to the third team. That followed a rookie campaign in 2016 which saw Vierling earn Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors.

Youngdahl, who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in economics from ND in 2015, finished up his two-year Irish career in that same year. After transferring from Iowa Western Junior College in the fall of 2013, the New Brighton, Minn., native overcame an up-and-down 2014 campaign to produce a standout senior season.

He started 59 games and appeared in all 60 contests in 2015, hitting .290 with 20 doubles, seven homers, 46 RBI, 18 walks, seven stolen bases and 35 runs to earn Third Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. For his career Youngdahl earned two Monograms and had a slash line of .263/.430/.322 with 109 hits, 27 doubles, six triples, 10 homers, 63 RBI, 32 walks, 10 stolen bases and 54 runs scored. Youngdahl also doubled as a lefty pitcher and tallied a 1-1 mark and a 1.80 ERA.

Youngdahl and his wife, Benet, married in January 2016.

Kole is a Native of Lincoln Nebraska and graduated from Northeast High School. Kole attended
Allen community college where he earned his associates in science degree, and played 2 years of baseball. After earning his degree Kole transfer to the University of Louisiana Lafayette, and earned his Bachelors degree in Kinesiology and a minor in health science, again playing 2 years. Kole continued playing professional baseball after earning his degree for the Twins organization.

We are excited to have Coach Kole on staff. Coach offers hitting, catching, speed agility and strength and conditioning lessons.

8 YEARS HEAD HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL COACH

17 YEARS HEAD COLLEGIATE SOFTBALL COACH

6 YEARS COLLEGE OF SAINT MARY (NAIA)

• 3 CONFERNCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 3 COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS

8 YEARS SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE (NCAA II)

• 5 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 4 COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS
• 4 NCAA REGIONAL QUALIFIERS
• WINNINGEST COACH IN SCHOOL HISTORY

3 YEARS CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY (NAIA)

• 72-27 RECORD
• NAIA NATIONAL QUALIFIERS 2012

Hope Bonar or more formally, Coach Hope graduated Creighton University with her Bachelors in Psychology and Theology. To further her education and knowledge she is beginning her Masters of Psychology at Grand Canyon University. Hope played softball for 15 years as a catcher and will begin her second year of being a head coach for a select team based out of Omaha, Nebraska. She also runs Showstopper Fastpitch, which she founded just recently!

With her degree and softball background she hopes to reach as many softball players as she can. Hope gives catching, hitting, and pitching lessons, proudly. She is beyond eager to begin working with The Wave and help grow softball in the Midwest. Her philosophy is, “if you believe you can, you will.”

Ms. Cristy Anderson is originally from Sioux Falls SD. She moved to Lincoln in 1994 and instantly became a Big Red Fan! In 2010 she moved to Waverly, wanting her daughter to experience “small town living” and has loved being a part of the Waverly community ever since. Cristy has worked as a registered nurse at Cancer Partners of Nebraska since 2004. Ms. Anderson is repeatedly inspired by her patients daily. She took this inspiration and coupled it with her main goal to “age gracefully” as a motivation to complete her Yoga Certification through Yoga and Ayurveda Center. Cristy has been teaching yoga classes at Cancer Partners of Nebraska for the past year. She leads yoga classes and workshops for cancer patients, their caregivers and staff as part of the wellness program. Cristy is excited to bring yoga and all its benefits to the Wave!!

Coach Tewes is the Waverly HS Baseball and Legion Head Coach.

Luke Tewes spent two years as a graduate assistant coach for the Panthers in 2018. His first year, he helped Drury to a 37-20 record, a 19-9 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a West Division title and an appearance in the NCAA-II tournament.

Tewes returned to Drury after serving as an assistant at Cowley County CC in Kansas in 2016 and was part of a staff that led the program to a Junior College World Series appearance.

Drury won the GLVC championship in both of Tewes’ seasons and was a combined 77-37-1 with a 48-22-1 record in the conference and a perfect 8-0 mark in the league tournament. He was also a part of five wins in the NCAA-II tournament during his two years with the Panthers.

Tewes started his college career at Iowa Western CC and helped the program to a 45-14 record and a top 10 national finish in his second season there. He played at Waverly High School in Lincoln, Nebraska in addition to a season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida where he hit .478 for the prep program.

Player stats:

Career .377 hitter and is tied with Nich Thimesch for Drury’s all-time career batting average record.

Career leader:

• Career leader Slugging percentage at .610
• Career leader On-base percentage at .488.

Third in HR (18)

Third in HR (18)

Sixth in Hits (146)

First Team All-Midwest Region as a Senior

First Team All-GLVC

Third Team Academic All-American by Capital One.
Second Team All-Region pick and a First Team All-GLVC selection as a junior and twice earned GLVC Player of the Week honors.

Dr. Sarah Rainey, Owner and PT at Invigorating Motion Physical Therapy, LLC

Dr. Sarah Rainey grew up on a farm in the Bennet/Palmyra Nebraska area. She earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee in 2009.

Dr. Rainey began her PT career in California where she worked in an outpatient clinic as well as working on the sidelines during games for high school football as the medical professional. Dr. Rainey moved back to her home state of Nebraska about 7 years ago and worked as a Rehab Lead in the Lincoln community.

Dr. Rainey’s passion to help people and desire to become a physical therapist stemmed from her own athletic career and fascination with the human body. She is determined to provide the best outcomes and prides herself in knowing she can spend the time necessary with each and every patient.

Dr. Rainey didn’t just want the typical PT clinic set-up – she understands there is a big hole missing between rehab and return to sport/fitness. She wants to fill that gap and specializes in full body movements, patterns and assessments to get her clients where they need to be. The focus at Invigorating Motion Physical Therapy is on full body movement and function. Finding the weakest link, pain and/or dysfunction to optimize sports performance, RESTORE movement quality and REVIVE our quality of life/sport. Dr. Rainey has certifications in dry needling, SFMA, FMS, YBT, FCS and TPI. 

If she could tell her patients anything it would be 1) pain is not normal and 2) Physical therapy is more than something you do after an injury - we can help prevent injuries with early intervention and guidance. 

Dr. Rainey is married to Jeremy and is the mother of two beautiful children, Kaiden and Anabella. She enjoys spending time doing outdoor activities with her family and friends.

Website: www.invigoratingmotionpt.com

My name is Meghan Krenke, I have 2 brothers Nathan (Junior in High School) and Griffin (Kindergarten), my dad (Brian), and mom (Ronelle). I have lived in Waverly my whole life and currently go to Waverly High school. I love traveling and spending time with friends and family. With my free time I like to go outside and watch Netflix. My favorite sport is volleyball. I have been playing volleyball since a very young age, and have been playing club volleyball at VCN (Volleyball Club Nebraska) for 3 years. I played softball for 5 years with the Waverly Heat, and 1 year with the Vortex. I had to choose between volleyball and softball in high school and eventually went with volleyball. I have missed playing softball but have met so many new people through the club and it has been a great experience for me.

What do you enjoy most about athletics?
⁃ Getting in the gym and having fun while working hard and getting better! Meeting new people and achieving goals that you have set for yourself. Having a team with you when you are struggling with something, they are there to pick you up and make you laugh!

What has athletics taught you about life?
⁃ Working together with a team and achieving goals together is also something that in almost every sport you must learn to do. Work ethic is also important, going in early before practice to get more reps, lifting on off days, and getting extra help is something that makes you a better athlete. Keep working hard even if you do not make the team you want to, it will pay off in the end!

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you are starting a sport what would you tell the younger version of yourself?
⁃ Have fun and do not worry about if you are the best or not, just work at it and you will get better. Doing the extra things like working out, getting extra reps and staying after practices to get help with anything you are struggling with.

Who is your hero?
⁃ My Dad Brian, he is someone that I look up to when I need advice and someone that I aspire to be one day. He is always there to talk and help guide me through life.

What are your biggest fears?
⁃ Bugs, needles, and dying

What is your favorite family vacation?
⁃ Disney world and Breckenridge, Colorado

What motivates you to work hard?
⁃ I want to play college volleyball and I want to play at the highest level so that makes me realize that I have to continue to work hard and go all out.

What is your favorite subject in school?
⁃ Math and biology

What is your favorite food?
⁃ Mexican food, especially tacos

What sports do you play?
⁃ Volleyball, I used to play softball and basketball

What do you love about working at The WAVE?
⁃ Seeing members in the community and all the little kids coming in and working hard. Some of the kids are always there and wanting to get better through lessons and lifting. The dedication that Luke and Jayme have to making sure the facility is always looking the best!

I am a student at Waverly High School (2024). I have played softball since first or second grade. I have ran track since seventh grade.

What do you enjoy most about athletics?
⁃ I enjoy meeting new people and getting new friends from athletics. Most of my best friends I met through athletics.

What has athletics taught you about life?
⁃ Athletics have taught me how to prioritize time, to be mature, and how to grow stronger from failure.

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you are starting a sport what would you tell the younger version of yourself?
⁃ If I were to go back and talk to my younger self I would tell them to stay motivated and keep a positive attitude even when things are hard or when I am going through a slump.

Who is your hero?
⁃ I have a lot of hero’s in my life. My mom is definitely the strongest woman in my life. My dad is one of my best friends. The bonds that I have with my parents are so important to me.

What are your biggest fears?
⁃ My biggest fear is being alone. 

What is your favorite family vacation?
⁃ My favorite family vacation was when we went to Nashville and Kentucky.

What motivates you to work hard?
⁃ My goals motivate me to work hard.

What is your favorite subject in school?
⁃ My favorite subject in school is Spanish.

What is your favorite food?
⁃ My favorite food either chipotle or pickles

What sports do you play?
⁃ I play softball and run and jump in track

What do you love about working at The WAVE?
⁃ I love working at the wave because I love seeing people work hard to achieve their goals.

My name is Malia Thoms. I am a student at WHS (2023). I have 2 siblings, 2 younger brothers. I love working with kids and I love helping them with the game of softball or baseball.

What do you enjoy most about athletics?
– The 1 thing I enjoy about athletics is getting to see each athlete develop in their own way.

What has athletics taught you about life?
– Athletics has taught me to never give up. If it gets hard, push through it and if you don’t, there is always someone else working out there trying to get better.

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you are starting a sport what would you tell the younger version of yourself?
– I would tell my younger self that it’s okay to fail.

Who is your hero?
– My hero is my great grandpa Wagner because he was a fighter and taught me to fight when it gets hard. He was a battler with cancer too and fought through that.

What is your biggest fear?
– My biggest fear is snakes.

What is your favorite family vacation?
– My favorite family vacation is Mexico.

What/Who motivates you to work hard?
– My dad motivates me because he pushes me to work hard in everything I do.

What is your favorite subject in school?
– My favorite subject in school is Math.

What is your favorite food?
– My favorite food is wings

What sport(s) do you play?
– The sport I play is softball.

What do you love about working at the wave?
– The one thing I love about working at The Wave is getting see each athlete develop their better self in softball or baseball.