Blue Devil Alumni Spotlight: Josh Johnson

Name –  Josh Johnson  |  Mississippi State bio
UW-Stout graduation year – Undergrad 2000, M.S. 2003
Major(s) – Psychology with a minor in Coaching, and M.S. in Applied Health Psychology
Sport(s) – Cross Country, Indoor Track and Baseball
Years Played – 1996-2001
Hometown (High School) – Oregon, Wis.
Currently Reside – Starkville, Miss.

 

Give us a brief synopsis of your life since graduating from UW-Stout, include job and family?
I went to Florida State to study Sports Psychology after Stout but found myself drifting toward a playing career in fastpitch softball. In 2004-05 I went to New Zealand to play semi-professionally which kicked off a career that ended on the US Men's National Fastpitch Softball team from 2012-16. I began coaching softball at the college level in January of 2010 at Faulkner State Community College (Now called Coastal Alabama) and have made stops at Lousiana-Lafayette, UTEP, Ball State and now Mississippi State. I got married in 2015 to Jennifer and we had our second boy in October. They are named Jake (3) and Jett (2.5 months).

Why did you choose to be a collegiate student-athlete at UW-Stout?
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in life yet and Stout gave me the opportunity to play both of the sports that I loved. Stout became much more as I got involved in Student Government and many student organizations, while playing three sports, that opened a lot of doors for me in the long run.
 
I have seen many athletes play more than one collegiate sport, but cross country/track and baseball is an unusual combination because the season overlap. What inspired you to compete in all three sports?
I could never decide which sport I could be best at. I think (former track/cross country) coach (Chris) Hall is really the reason I decided to compete and try to be great in everything. He knew I was competitive and fueled it by challenging me to do more. Track was an afterthought, but may have been the most fun I had. I loved competing indoors, racers and cheering all close to the action. I always wanted to play pro baseball, but I found a lot of comradery and challenges in running. I loved how there was no subjectivity. You prepared and you ran fast or you didn't. Baseball was always my first love and still is, although now in a new version.
 

How did you get involved in fastpitch softball? According to your bio, you started playing in 1995 (before your Stout years?) and started playing at the major level of the NAFA in 2004. And where did that all take you? Are you still playing?
 My dad played and when I was young, I went to all of his tournaments. When I got to school, I started to play fastpitch more and more because I wasn't getting enough games with my local team. When I left Stout, I decided to pour everything into fastpitch and was elevated to the major level soon after. For whatever reason, I was a better fastpitch player than anything and once I started pitching, which was during my last year at Stout finishing up my masters, I climbed the levels pretty fast. I took all the time I put into both running and baseball and put it all into softball, and it payed off. I retired officially last year, although my last couple years were sparse. After playing in the WBSC World Championships and the Pan Am Games in 2015, I decided that the rest of my life was going to start. I took my time and put it into a new job at Ball State and a new wife. Last year I was elevated to Associate Head Coach at Ball State, and with a young son, I decided that was the end of playing.
 
What did you like most about competing in collegiate athletics? 
Going through different levels of collegiate sports as a coach really helped me put my playing career in perspective. I think playing at any level is the best way to learn the life skills, emotional intelligence and sense of purpose for all things that life brings. I think now, more than ever, college athletics and sports in general, are so important at all ages. I know even with the girls I coach now, the only thing that gets kids through tough life situations are their sport.
 
What is the greatest lesson you learned from being a collegiate student-athlete?
The best thing I ever learned was that you will only get out what you put it. If you don't do the work, and don't prepare, there will not be a result you seek.
 
Who was the most influential person in your athletic career and why?
I guess it has to be my dad, Mark. Exposing me to a sport culture is what ultimately led to my path. He coached my brother and I in every sport, and even those things I don't do anymore are still part of my life. And, obviously with Men's Fastpitch being so obscure, without his influence there is no way I would ever be a coach.

What is your most memorable or favorite sports moment at UW-Stout? 
 Funny, the first thing that comes to mind is a fail, but what popped in my head was the regional cross country meet my junior year in St. Louis. For 4.5 miles I sat three steps from qualifying for the national meet only to fall apart at the end. I usually prided myself on finishing strong, but I barely made the finish line in that race. I had gone through every mile marker faster than I ever had, and I think it was the one time I ever pushed myself to the brink. It was the one race I can truly say there was nothing left. To me, finding out that I could go that hard for that far without actually dying was life changing. I looked at competition differently after that.

How did your teammates describe you as a person and a student-athlete?
I think they saw me as a leader, by example I'd guess, and I tried to be exemplary in everything. But if you asked what would I go back and change, I would have been a better teammate. I could have helped them more and I think if I would have done that we all would have been better.

Are you in contact with any former Blue Devil student-athletes? (If so, who?)
Unfortunately, no. I met up with Paul Gillis two years ago when he came to recruit at Ball State. We are all friends on Facebook, but in my travels have lost touch with them.
 
Outside of athletics, what other activities were you involved in at UW-Stout?
I was involved in Student Government, all the way up to a director position and finished runner-up to being president my senior year. I was the Sports Editor for the Stoutonia, a member of the Black Student Union for five years, Psi Chi, and many other committees.