Elementary school teachers commonly ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Most kids have no idea what to answer, but others know exactly what they want. West Essex’s new athletic director, Timothy Walsh, has always been certain he would follow in his father’s footsteps, starting with becoming a teacher to eventually becoming an administrator.
Born and raised in South Jersey, Walsh returned home after college to begin gaining experience within the education world. He started teaching at a high school in South Jersey. However, after meeting his future wife, they moved up north after she received a job opportunity. Walsh wanted to continue his teaching career, so he interviewed around at many different districts.
“I was looking at different places that I felt that I would fit into, and West Essex just happened to fall into my lap and it has been great ever since,” Walsh said.
When he first began at West Essex, Walsh taught math to juniors and seniors. He immediately got involved with coaching to pursue his love of sports alongside his passion for teaching. Walsh coached JV volleyball and basketball, and he was a part of the middle school baseball program for 10 years. However, becoming the athletic director was always on the back of Walsh’s mind.
“I knew that by becoming a teacher, eventually, I wanted to become an administrator,” Walsh said. “The sports world is something I gravitate to, so Athletic Director became a position I was looking into.”
After shadowing former Athletic Director Anthony Minnella and site managing at different West Essex events, Walsh was set on taking on the new administrative role. He took every opportunity he could to prove that he was ready for the job. Walsh now sees a different side to West Essex as he leaves his educational career behind.
“I do miss being in the classroom,” Walsh said. “[My job now] is a lot more office-based, but walking out to a field or the gym is definitely a bright spot in my day.”
Walsh dove headfirst into his new role, taking on a lot more responsibilities in order to pursue new opportunities for the athletics program. He does a lot of the behind-the-scenes for sports like making schedules, communicating with other Athletic Directors and managing every sporting event. He is dedicated to succeeding in his new position.
“Every day, I am not leaving school until at least 6 P.M., just because I want to see everybody out on the fields and courts,” Walsh said
The big change Walsh has brought to the department was creating a West Essex Athletics website. The website has all the sports information, from dates of games to live streams of the events. Walsh advertises the website on the Athletics Instagram page, where he posts live updates from all the different sports games.
“The page allows people to get a chance to see the game, either through live streaming or through Instagram,” Walsh said. “This is a great tool for athletics to get support from friends and family at home.”
Walsh loves professional sports as well, and he roots for all Philadelphia teams. , with the Philadelphia Eagles being his favorite. Walsh loves to spend time with his family, especially with his newborn baby. Outside of being a dad and an administrator, he enjoys playing golf, watching sports and hanging out with his friends. Walsh continues to successfully balance his social life with working hard as he takes on this new leadership role.
“[I love] just giving my athletes all the love and support that they need to be successful on the field,” Walsh said.
