The Blake School Athletic Department is pleased to announce the hiring of Joseph Waalk to Head Girls’ Varsity Softball Coach.

Coach Waalk comes to Blake with over twenty years of coaching experience in the sports of softball, baseball and football.  Most recently, Coach Waalk’s softball experiences come with positions in the Minnesota Renegades Fastpitch Club and Blizzard Baseball.  Coach Waalk has also coached both baseball and football at Minnetonka High School.

Waalk takes pride in seeing his players succeed and truly loves sports, teaching and motivating athletes.  The search committee was impressed with his passion for softball and breadth of athletic coaching experience.  “Coach Waalk’s knowledge in both developmental as well as club softball makes him a superior candidate to take over the Blake softball program,” said Athletic Director Nick Rathmann.

Waalk played football at Concordia University in St. Paul where he earned a BA in Kinesiology and obtained a minor in health and coaching licensure.  He went on to earn his MA in Special Education from St. Mary’s University.  Outside of coaching, Waalk is employed as a special education teacher.

Coach Waalk has been married for 16 years to his wife Rachel.  They have two daughters Kati (14) and Megan (8).  Kati currently plays for the Minnesota Renegades program and helps coach. Megan also plays softball and dances year round.  

Please join us in welcoming Coach Waalk to the Blake community!