Haileyville hires Joe Hays as head girls basketball, softball coach

Joe Hays has been in Haileyville for about two weeks, but already loves what he sees.

“The kids have been very receptive to me and the way I teach,” said Hays, the new Haileyville head coach for softball and girls basketball.

“They seem to be very interested in not only athletics, but working hard to improve and get better and be very competitive," he continued. "Kids that are coachable, and kids that want to work hard, that’s a good combination.”

Hays comes to Haileyville from Hartford, Ark. He was a coach there from 2011 until 2018, when the school closed permanently following the end of the school year due to insufficient funding, according to a Jan. 9 article from 5NewsOnline.com.

He has coached a number of sports throughout the years, including baseball, softball, football, track and basketball. Hays received an award in May as the 2018 Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association Transformation Coach of the Year in his first and only season coaching the boys at Hartford after six years as the head girls coach.

“The reason that I won that award is because the kids believed in what I was teaching,” Hays said.

He said it was tough leaving Arkansas after the relationships he had built with the athletes and parents, but he knew it wouldn’t be the same after the closing of Hartford and some of them going to other places. Hays remains in communication with his former Hartford players, however.

“Just because I’ve had a different address doesn’t mean that I won’t hear a text from one of them here and there,” Hays said. “Their parents will call me and I will check on them just like any kids that I’ve coached at any other school.”

Hays said that if had to describe himself in one word, it would be relentless.

“I feel like having the right attitude and giving the right effort is more important than anything,” he said. “We have worked on having the right effort every play. Every play counts, every play matters. When one play’s over, the next play begins.”

Hays said he sees a game as a marathon and not a series of sprints. His focus is on getting players to perform an entire game or practice. Staying focused and having the right attitude and effort is what Hays and the Lady Warriors have worked on thus far.

He said he teaches his players that they don’t scoreboard watch, but instead focus on controlling the things they can control within a given practice or game. When the season begins, he said he will sit down with his players and tell them how practices went and how weights and conditioning went.

Setting goals is something that Hays is a big believer in. He said it’s unrealistic to set a goal to win every game, but that it’s also not setting goals high enough if someone has a goal if they would be okay with winning two games or one conference game.

“We set proper goals, and once we meet that goal, we sit down again and talk about the next goal,” Hays said. “I think goal setting is huge for increasing your competitiveness and your success.”

Hays said he likes to control the game in basketball. While his personnel changes over the years, he said he has motion offenses that he will always run, and wants to focus on a man-to-man defense, along with 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones he emphasizes.

His softball strategy includes being aggressive with hitting and runners, and likes to control the game on defense. Hays said he likes to play small ball and put pressure on defense. He said the Lady Warriors will steal bases, hit and run and go for the extra base.

Hays will make his debut as the head Haileyville softball coach in less than two months when the 2018 fast-pitch season begins.

“I can’t wait to be in full swing and get into the season,” Hays said. “(I’m) glad to be here, feel lucky and blessed to be here and going to give 100 percent to the Haileyville Lady Warriors and the community.”