What is your name and position? My name is Josh Williams, a PW (Physical Welfare) teacher here at Niles North as well as the head boys track and field coach.
What inspired you to be a track coach? I think there’s a couple of different reasons. Number one is probably the experience I had running track. I was part of a really good track program and had some success on the track. So that was probably the first part. But then I’ve also been around a lot of really good coaches that have kind of pushed me and helped me to become the person that I am today. Without them, I don’t think I would be in this position. So trying to do the same for the kids that I coach has been a big driving force for me.
What song reminds you most of your childhood? Hmm man, that’s a tough question. I don’t know, I would say early on there was a song called Whoop (There It Is) by Tag Team was a song when I was a really little kid that like you’d hear in all the sporting events and that just kind of reminds me of, you know, just being a kid I guess.
Can you describe what a typical practice day looks like? Um Ssure! So I really haven’t had a chance to practice yet, being new to the position. But in the past, a typical day for track coaches is that you would meet the kids out on the track, you go through your warm up stuff, dynamic warm ups, stretching, sprinter drills. And then usually, it’s coupled with a few different things. It could be the kids are doing a workout that day, or they’re working on individual events skills for that day. So whatever the theme of the day is kind of dictates what the day will look like. And then obviously, you know, we want to make sure that kids are given a plan for what they are supposed to do, what the workout will look like, what the goal of the workout is, so and so forth.
What are some core values you have? We have a whole thing in our program called BATON. None of the kids know what that is but each letter stands for an acronym of like the pillars of what are program is gonna be built off of. The first one is BELIEVE. Believing your teammates, believing your coaches, and believing what we do in practices is meaningful and has a purpose. The A would be ACCOUNTABILITY. So just being accountable for your own actions and you know, just being where you’re supposed to be and doing what you’re supposed to do. The T would be teamwork. I think being a team player is somebody who sacrifices a little bit of their own growth for the success of the team. And with that, also being a great teammate, affecting the people around you in a positive way. Ownership is the O, so just taking ownership for your actions, controlling your effort and your attitude, never making excuses, and earning everything you have is a big part of it. And then the last part is N which would be Non-negotiable and just competing. We talked to the kids the other morning about competing during finals, to compete to get a good grade, compete to be a great person, and most importantly, compete to be a great track athlete. Others we’ve talked about could be a great husband, a great father. So those are probably the big things for me.
As a father, how much does your family mean to you? Family is everything to me. You know, I have four kids and a wife, and making sure that I’m a good father is the biggest thing in my life. Just being there for my kids and showing them that I love them, shows them I care. And I think you show them, not by telling them you do, but by letting your actions. And also giving them your time and your energy.
What’s a quote that you live by? I think one that sticks in my mind is “If better is possible, good is not enough” and just for me growing up, being a little complacent at times, and just like, hey, there’s always better and I can be better. So never allowing myself to get in that situation for like always striving to be the best I can be.
What are some hobbies you do when you’re not coaching? Well I’m a sports junkie, so I love watching football, love watching the Cubs play baseball, and also like watching basketball. I enjoy working out myself. I try to workout at least five or six times a week. I love cars, mostly like muscle cars. I rarely ever have time for this, but sometimes I do like to read. Other than that, those are probably my main activities.
If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? I would probably put it in the bank and save it, and tell my wife that she didn’t need to work anymore and she could be at home with the kids full time.
What are some goals you have for the future? I don’t know, it’s this kind of weird philosophy, actually not a weird philosophy but more just different. I don’t like to think that I live my life by goals, I just have a mission. I guess it is kind of what drives me everyday to, again, be the best. My missions are to develop the best track program in the state of Illinois, to be the best dad and a great husband. I think the main difference between a goal and a mission is that in a goal, you would sometimes sell yourself short. You’d shoot too far and you feel like you’re not successful. I feel like if you’re driven, and you’re on a mission, those things just become a part of who you are as a person and what you strive to accomplish everyday.
What do you wanna see more of at Niles North? It’s hard for me to say since this is my first year here, but I would like to see more resilience and toughness to commitment towards one thing. I feel like a lot of the student body is involved in a lot of different things and they;re spread very thin, like and I think that’s amazing, I’m an advocate for that. But I think there are times where if someone brings incredible talent to something and they could be very good at it, they should put more focus into that then five different things.
