Joe W.

Joe grew up playing soccer in West Virginia and began playing travel soccer at the age of 12 for the WV Mustangs coached by Tom Dutton. With the Mustangs Joe won 4 state championships and participated in the USYSA Region I championships at the U14 level, becoming the first team from WV to win their age group at that tournament. At the U17 age group the Mustangs merged with another local team and became WV Team Superior and with that team he won another 2 state championships and participated in the USYSA Region I tournament twice more. In high school, Joe was a member of the St. Albans High School Red Dragons where he garnered All-Conference and All-State accolades both in his Junior and Senior year. He also was a member of the WV ODP program and participated in the regional ODP tournaments in NJ and NY. He was also a member of the WV ODP team that participated in the Diadora National State Select Championships held in Las Cruces, NM as a U16. During the summer between his junior and senior year of high school he participated in the Lanzera National ID camp in GA and was selected to the Lanzera National team that toured and played matches in Southern Italy during his senior year. Joe continued his playing career at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA his freshman year and transferred to Bluefield College as a sophomore to continue playing. In his 3 seasons at Bluefield he helped lead a team that steadily improved from a dismal 3 wins in the two years before his arrival to a 12-5 record and Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season champions while serving as team captain during his senior year.

During his high school days Joe began coaching youth teams in the St. Albans area and assisted coaching his younger brother's travel team. He lead his brother's U15 River City Strikers to a WV indoor state championship as a senior in high school. The coaching bug really bit him while living in Myrtle Beach, SC where he was the assistant varsity and head JV boys coach at Myrtle Beach High School in 1998 where he helped lead the varsity team to the Lower State Semi-Final match and a record of 18-3. He moved on to the college ranks as a Graduate Assistant at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA in 2000 and then again as a GA at Delta State University in 2003, where he helped to start the men's and women's soccer programs and earn his Master's degree. He spent two years at Bethany College in Bethany, WV the first as a volunteer assistant for the women's program in 2005 and then the next fall as the head men's JV coach/assistant varsity coach where the men's team made the NCAA DIII national tournament. In 2007 Joe became the head men's soccer coach at Salem International University in Salem, WV where he coached the WVIAC freshman of the year, goalkeeper Leonardo Tilemont. The following year Joe took over as the head women's soccer coach at his Alma Mater, Bluefield College, leading them to 9 wins in two seasons and an appearance in the NCCAA regional’s and their first conference win in 4 seasons.

Since leaving the college coaching ranks Joe has ran his own camps with University of Akron's assistant women's coach Andy Hoggarth, participated as a staff member of the JA Soccer Academy in Carroll County, VA, and worked the Ralph Lundy Soccer Academy camps in GA and most recently the Reevo United Camp at Radford University. Joe has also worked with different youth clubs including Greensboro United, WV Chaos, FC Crossfire, and most recently as U11boys head coach for New River United. Joe is also a USSF and NISOA referee and officiates youth, high school and college soccer matches.

Joe has held a USSF National D coaching license since 2003 and earned his NSCAA National Diploma this past July. Joe’s typical session is focused on getting as many touches on the ball as possible with the philosophy that “if your first touch is not good, you won’t have a second touch”. He also works on turning and getting away from pressure while maintaining possession, trapping balls out of the air, passing and receiving, and shooting.

Joe W. has not provided a session plan.