Bio

Athlete, Coach, Husband, & Father

Jeff was born and raised in Centerville, Ohio where he grew up on the fields playing little league baseball and pee wee football. Jeff graduated from Centerville High School in 2000 where he was a multisport star earning several opportunities to play at the collegiate level upon graduation.

His dedication to team sports set him up well for his professional baseball career that spanned 13 years. Jeff credited his discipline, integrity and respect of the game to his coaches and teammates. Jeff was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2000 and spent 13+ years playing professional baseball in the Yankees, Angels, Reds, and Cubs organizations, appearing in Spring Training for all four major league teams. He played independent ball for several years until he chose to retire from his professional baseball career.

Jeff dedicated the next phase of his career to coaching and training thousands of young athletes within his community. First, as a hitting and pitching instructor at Extra Innings and then as the owner of his own sports training facility, Beyond the Game (BTG). BTG turned into a facility used by dozens of youth sports organizations for their training needs. BTG eventually had to be shut down and Jeff directed his focus on hitting and pitching instruction at Elevate Sports Training in Centerville.

Unfortunately, shortly after closing BTG, in December 2018 Jeff and his family found out he had a rare and aggressive form of cancer. After a courageous but short battle, Jeff passed away on April 11, 2019. Jeff leaves behind his wife Kate and his greatest joy, two sons, Cooper and Christian.

A number of teams around the area dedicated their seasons to Jeff in 2019 and continued to play the sports they loved to their highest ability as Jeff would have wanted them to. The Centerville High School baseball program fundraising committee, The Dugout Club, established a scholarship in Jeff’s honor that will be awarded to a deserving senior each year. Jeff’s two sons were the recipients of the scholarship in 2019.

Since then, the Jeff Kennard Memorial Scholarship Organization has been created to assist with raising funds for the recipient of the scholarship awarded to a senior on the Centerville High School baseball team each year. The organization hopes to grow where it will be able to offer scholarships to other senior athletes in the community. The organization plans to hold annual events to raise money to benefit the Jeff Kennard Memorial Scholarship.