Who We Are

Organization

NEK Nighthawks is a Christian homeschool activities organization. We exist to provide opportunities for homeschool students to participate in athletics and other activities. We have sports teams for high school and junior high school students and choir for K-12th grades.

Our coaches, sport coordinators, Athletic Director and other Athletic Committee members have years of experience coaching, coordinating and organizing homeschool athletic teams. In fact, our coaches possess more than 100 years of combined coaching experience.

NEK is able to provide a well rounded schedule of competition that includes area homeschool organizations as well as both private and public school opponents.

NEK Nighthawks is an approved 501(c)(3) organization. We are also a KSHSAA approved organization.

There is no fee to join NEK. We simply ask that all students & families review our Code of Conduct including our Statement of Belief, and complete our registration form by clicking on the “REGISTER” tab.

Athletic Committee

NEK is governed by an Athletic Committee. It is composed of an Executive Committee of the Athletic Director/Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Principal and an at-large member. The remainder of the committee are the varsity head coaches of each sport or their designee.

Steve Poage

Committee Chair, Athletic Director

Steve has served as an athletic director for homeschool sports organizations since 2010. In that role, he has also served in the leadership of the Metro Christian Athletic Association league including two years as league President. Steve is currently an assistant coach for high school girls’ basketball and high school girls’ soccer. He was previously head coach for the boys’ soccer team for eight years.

Doug Longstaff

Treasurer

Doug Longstaff has coached basketball with NEK since 2020. Doug began coaching youth sports as a high school student in the early 1990s. He later spent many years as a head or assistant coach for dozens of recreational and competitive teams through Sunflower Soccer Association in Topeka. Doug also coached youth baseball for 13 years and served stints as both league director and tournament director for Sunrise Optimist Baseball. He has been a youth baseball umpire for over 30 years. As a kid, Doug played a variety of sports and competed in football, wrestling, and baseball at Hayden High School. He was Centennial League Champion and 2nd Team All-City in in wrestling his senior year. Rare for a wrestler, Doug also played basketball competitively or recreationally for much of his life. He played third base and catcher for the baseball team at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, where he also competed on the club wrestling team and in intramural basketball. Doug is Executive Director of Annual Giving at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. He and his wife, Anna, homeschooled all six of their children. They live in Shawnee County and attend St. Joseph Church.

Tammy Powell

Secretary

Tammy and her husband Jeff homeschooled their 9 children beginning in 1985. She has served as the scorekeeper for various homeschool sports since 1997. She delights in watching our young people grow in character and ability while being a part of a team. Many of her grandchildren are now being homeschooled and she looks forward to attending their sports and activities.

Dan Holloway

At-Large Exec Comm

Coach Holloway started coaching girls’ basketball in 2009. He coached JH girls for 7 years and then moved to high school girls in 2016. Coach Holloway’s teams have competed in league, regional, and national homeschool tournaments. His high school teams have competed in KSHSAA tournaments every year as well. Coach Holloway’s passion to coach started at Stockton High School (Kansas). His high school coach inspired his interest in the game and was a lifetime mentor and friend. Coach Holloway also has been the basketball sports coordinator since 2010. As the coordinator, he schedules games and organizes the basketball season. Coach Holloway and his wife, Diana (DI), have homeschooled their 6 children since 2003, and had the opportunity to coach all 5 of their daughters.

Brad Gentry

At Large Member

Committee Members

Boys Soccer – Matt Mercer
Cross Country – Shawn Schwensen
Girls Tennis – Di Holloway
Girls Volleyball – Valerie Tolin
Boys Basketball – Steve Meier
Girls Basketball – Marley Baum
Girls Soccer – Rich Lorenzo
Track & Field – Angella Sterbenz
Choir – Jeremy Layden