Somewhere out in South Fulton, Tennessee, a small dot on a Volunteer State map tucked in its northwest corner and nearly hugging the Kentucky border, there must be photographs \u2013 maybe old VHS tapes \u2013 of a young kid driving a tractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All around a baseball field. Instructions pretty simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy dad put me on the tractor and told me, \u2018Whatever you do, don\u2019t hit the fence,\u2019\u201d said EJ Wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The instruction would evolve into a metaphor for life; boundaries have never kept EJ Wood from goals and ball fields almost always have been at the epicenter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A former two-sport college athlete at Lambuth, baseball and football, Wood heeded that early advice from his father, Gwin Wood, a prep coach of such distinction that his name adorns the South Fulton baseball field, but also chose when to listen to his heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn college, I had a pretty good conversation with my dad about what I wanted to do,\u201d Wood said, \u201cand I kept talking about teaching, and at the time he tried to dissuade me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, 20 years ago \u2013 after he had finished his collegiate career and even served as a student-coach for his alma mater, Wood began teaching at Youth Villages Bartlett Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2007, Wood began a three-year stint as Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach at Watertown Elementary before becoming Head Baseball Coach at Watertown High School, a position he held for eight years. From there, he became the first Athletic Director at the Green Hill High High School in Lebanon which opened in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Wood is taking on a new endeavor: he\u2019s TSSAA\u2019s newest assistant executive director, stepping into the vacancy following the retirement of esteemed TSSAA veteran administrator Gene Menees. He will begin his new role with the athletic association on July 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEJ is most often described by his peers as a servant leader,\u201d stated Mark Reeves, Executive Director of TSSAA. \u201cThere is no greater attribute one could possess to be successful in the role he now assumes. Our ability to lead is directly proportional to our ability to build relationships with the stakeholders we serve. EJ has the qualities necessary to build strong relationships with coaches, administrators, and officials\u2014connections that are essential to making a lasting impact on this organization. We are excited to have him on board!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of my closest confidantes, Dave McCulley, the interim athletics director at Bethel who also calls high school games, I\u2019ve been blessed and able to watch and learn from him,\u201d Wood said. \u201cI saw a lot of good principals Dad worked for, saw good leaders, certainly worked with and saw Gene Menees leading our meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve tried to aspire, and many times have failed, but I\u2019ve always had good leaders in front of me and tried to aspire to lead as well as they all have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wood\u2019s non-linear path to TSSAA headquarters might most uniquely feature his time as assistant groundskeeper for the St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 Triple-A affiliate, Memphis Redbirds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lessons from that time continue to resonate today with Wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWorking with the grounds crew for the Memphis Redbirds taught me some of the most valuable lessons of my professional life,\u201d said Wood, married to his high school sweetheart, Grace, and with daughters, Ensley (14) and Ellie (12). \u201cThe late nights, long hours, and weekend work really instilled a deep respect for hard work and attention to detail. I learned what it means to take pride in your work, even when no one\u2019s watching \u2014 because maintaining a professional field requires consistency, care, and a team-first mentality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI also learned the importance of adaptability and staying composed under pressure. Rain delays, back-to-back games, unexpected changes \u2014 those situations taught me to think on my feet and support my team no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much like those early days driving a tractor for his father or helping install or move irrigation lines, Wood sees those hours toiling for the Redbirds in classrooms and athletics facilities on an almost-daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost of all, I carry with me the mindset that no job is too small, and that success is built on doing the little things right every day,\u201d said Wood, quick also to credit his mother, Joanie Cavaness. \u201cThat experience gave me grit, a strong work ethic, and a real appreciation for the behind-the-scenes work that keeps everything running smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of which centers Wood back in this moment, this opportunity to help guide TSSAA into its second century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can retire in about 10 years, I\u2019ve been teaching that long, but I don\u2019t plan on it, per se,\u201d Wood said. \u201cGene Menees worked in the job 34 years, and I don\u2019t take that lightly. I think it\u2019s a spot where people have the ability to effect change and when it\u2019s done right like Gene has done it, you don\u2019t take a chance like that lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t think an opportunity like this \u2026 God works in mysterious ways. His timing is a lot better than we can plan or imagine; I don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever the right time to leave, but I do think Green Hill is in a great spot. I felt this was a door, and I\u2019m excited to get to work with Mark Reeves and his staff.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wood will oversee baseball and basketball Somewhere out in South Fulton, Tennessee, a small dot on a Volunteer State map tucked in its northwest corner and nearly hugging the Kentucky border, there must be photographs \u2013 maybe old VHS tapes \u2013 of a young kid driving a tractor. All around a baseball field. Instructions pretty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[6,7,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6374,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6372\/revisions\/6374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}