The Coaches Report
"A running coach that overcame extreme adversity"
By Joey Warner
Joe Williams was hired as a soccer coach at St. Luke’s Episcopal School in 1998 and after he fell in love with the school, was hired full-time in 2000. He started the
track and field program and has coached many successful teams and athletes
He has overcame personal handicaps that have strengthened him as a person and even more as a coach because of the athletes, parents and faculty at St. Luke’s.
“I want to stay current with what I coach and I love to work with kids and I get more out of it when I am an ambassador of my sport in the elementary and junior high level,” Williams said.
Williams received his M.S. in Physical Education at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO and his B.S. in Biology, Central State University in
Edmond, OK.
Williams was an outstanding high school runner and was the No. 1 runner on his college team at Central State for four years. He once ran a 4:10 mile and finished 10 miles in 56 minutes and was a racewalker that held the 1500 meter racewalk record in Oklahoma for twenty years.
“I went to school to be a dentist but it did not work out before I went to work at Kerr-McGee for a couple of years,” Williams said. “Then, I worked in substance abuse and drug and alcohol with Mobile Mental Health for twelve years.”
Williams is the Director of Physical Education at St. Luke’s. He teaches teaches Kindergarten through eighth-grade Physical Education classes and coaches cross-country, track, volleyball and soccer.
“I am responsible for scheduling gym and league activities for St. Luke’s and helped establish cross-country as a CMSAA sport and I organized a track club for
first through eighth-graders,” he said “I purchase and maintain all athletic equipment, athletic field maintenance, hire League coaches, and manage the Physical Education budget.”
Williams is also an assistant track coach at McGill-Toolen. He coaches the junior varsity track team coach. “I am responsible for developing and overseeing
workouts for varsity sprinters, jumpers and throwers and worked as an assistant to coach Angelo Harris.”
Williams is the President of the Christian Middle School Athletic Association
(CMSAA). He became an Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Certified track official in 2007. He is a certified Level 2 USATF coach, certified USATF National official, served as the USATF Long Distance Coordinator in Alabama from 2000 to 2005 and has worked other positions at track and field meets his entire career.
“Coaching education is a vital role in our sport, track and field. I do not accept complacency with the techniques and methods in which I teach and coach with the athletes I work with. There are other approaches that are as effective as my own,” Williams said. “I stay current and incorporate new ideas in a coaching education program and modify new ideas to fit my own program.”
“It is validating to network with my colleagues in my field. By doing so, I have been able to learn that what I do may be different from others and at the same
time there are similarities in building a successful program,” Williams said. “In order to remain successful, I have developed an open mind and a willingness to learn new ideas by reading books, research and converse with my colleagues on how they approach a specific task. I keep what I can from the information I am given that will be useful to incorporate in my program.”
“My passion is coaching track and field but I love the kids I have the privilege to work with,” Williams said. “The kids and athletes that I get to work with keeps me motivated in continuing my education process and I try my best to model the ideas that I teach and coach with my kids.”
In 1991, Williams had a kidney transplant and was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease. He took Dialysis for a year and a half and could not train or work
for a couple of years and he admits he had great doctors and has not had any problems with his kidneys since the transplant.
He went on to compete in the National Kidney Foundation Games and won the 1500 meter run and racewalk at the World transplant Games in British Columbia, Canada in 1993.
In 2004, Williams developed strep type A tissue eating disease and lost his right leg just above his thigh. He had just a 20 percent chance of coming out of surgery then went into a coma.
“Three days before my surgery, I was coaching my son’s soccer game before watching Oklahoma Sooners football. The next day, I ran five miles with two legs,”
Williams said. “The doctors can’t explain why I am still here but say that it was because I was strong and physically fit.”
Williams insists that St. Luke’s was like a guardian angel for him and his family through the surgery. “The people, faculty and staff at St. Luke’s were troopers and were my saving grace,” he said. “The kids have been through this with me and they accept it more than me and they keep me coming back.”
A year and a half ago, Williams received a running foot and he is looking forward to running with his kids. “I am only as disabled as my mind lets me be and I
probably do more work now than I did with two legs,” Williams said. “God has taken care of me because I20may not need running but I can coach running from my heart.”
“This town needs another prep school and it is a really neat situation because St. Luke’s has been a real good feeder program for other schools,” Williams said.
“Now we will be able to keep our kids at our own school on our new campus.”
