Larry Niemeyer
Jefferson High School
Impact Statement
“Coaching was easy for me.”
-Larry Niemeyer
Niemeyer boasts a 2,089-429 career record.
Biography
In 49 years at two Iowa high schools – Adel High and Jefferson – Niemeyer, who turns 72 in September, has won over 2,500 games as a softball and girls’ basketball coach. His career softball record – 1,651-338 – makes him the nation’s all-time leader by more than 600 wins over his nearest competition. That total does not include 332 wins in fall softball in his early days at Adel, where he led the school to a fall state title in an open-class system. After winning 17 straight conference titles at Adel, Niemeyer took over a Jefferson team that had won just 25 games in its previous five seasons.
Five years later Jefferson won the first of three state softball championships under his direction. His basketball team won the 1993 state championship with a 29-0 record and advanced to four state title games. His teams have a 843-294 record, No. 2 on Iowa’s all-time victory list. His state titles in cross country and indoor track make him Iowa’s only coach to win titles in four different sports.
The National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) named him its national Coach of the Year in softball in 1989 and girls basketball in 1996, and he was inducted into the NHSCA Hall of Fame in 2002. He also has been inducted into the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame in both sports.
Niemeyer continued to coach his teams to victory. When he retired in 2015, he finished his career with a 2,089-429. He is also currently third overall in basketball wins in Iowa, with an 871-352 record.
In September of 2016 Niemeyer threw the first pitch at Wrigley Field prior to the Chicago Cubs game.
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