Meet Katie Willingham
Director of Athletics at Columbia State
By Jason Zasky
“Growing up, I always had a bat and ball in my hands,” begins Katie Willingham, who has been Director of Athletics at Columbia State Community College since September 2022. In many ways, it’s a role she has been preparing for her whole life, having grown up playing all manner of team sports, including basketball, volleyball, and football, as well as slow- and fast-pitch softball.
“In 2004, I told my (college) softball coach that I wanted to be an athletic director,” she adds, noting that she is a graduate of Lee University, in her hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee. “I don’t think she knew what to do with that (information), and I think my parents were a little confused, too. But I love sports, and there was just something about being around sports all the time.”
With her extended-term goal already in mind, Willingham shadowed a high school athletic director during her senior year in college. Months later, she started her career as an assistant softball coach at Cleveland State Community College. Five years later, she was promoted to head softball coach, a job she held from 2010 to 2019.
Then came a move—with her husband—to Middle Tennessee. As it happens, Columbia State had a full-time coaching position available at the time, “so I was lucky enough to become assistant softball and soccer coach,” she recalls, putting her in a position to interview for the school’s Director of Athletics position when it came available in 2022.
Willingham started in September of that year and has since added a new national leadership role as the NJCAA Region VII Women’s Director. In this role, she serves as co-chair of the Division I softball committee and a member of the women’s soccer and beach volleyball committees.
As for her day-to-day responsibilities, Willingham says the athletic director at a junior college wears many hats, quipping that her job involves doing a lot of paperwork.
“I am the liaison from the administration to our coaches, and also help oversee the facilities,” she says, before reminding that Columbia State fields five different Division I teams, namely baseball, softball, and women’s soccer, plus men’s and women’s basketball. “I am also an advocate for our coaches and student-athletes,” she continues, especially as pertaining to both the campus and local community.
To be sure, Willingham has ambitious goals for the athletics programs at Columbia State.
“Everyone knows that sports teach you leadership and teamwork—all the skills that are needed to not only be a good student but a good citizen,” she begins. “My goal is to facilitate a department where we are going to be successful on the field and on the court, but also in the classroom and out in the community. We love good grades, and we love winning, but we want our student-athletes to have a great experience at Columbia State and to go on and be successful.”
That said, Willingham is also excited to have the opportunity to serve as Women’s Director for the TCCAA—the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association.
"I am part of the leadership team, and I oversee the women’s sports for all our community colleges in the state,” she continues, as all of Tennessee’s schools are affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
“I have been part of the TCCAA leadership team for seven years. This is my first year as Women’s Director, and it’s something I am very proud about, because we don’t have a lot of women in my position,” she adds.
Willingham is also excited to have the opportunity to impact the lives of young student-athletes.
"I love watching our athletes and being a part of what they do,” she says. Doing so while getting a chance to live in Spring Hill makes things that much sweeter.
“Growing up in the Chattanooga area, I used to love coming to Middle Tennessee, but living here, my kids not only get to experience all that Nashville has to offer, but we also get that hometown feel of both Spring Hill and Columbia. My husband and I love this area, and we will probably retire here,” she concludes, but not before she has a chance to help develop more student-athletes at Columbia State.
“Every student has a story of why they came here, and hopefully, they remember how they had great experiences with their classes and games,” she concludes. “Our best advertisement is our students and our student-athletes.”
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