Joel Southern is entering his 15th season with the women's bowling program. Southern, who previously served as head coach of the bowling team, is beginning his eighth season as the administrator of the squad. He assists with scheduling, budgeting, travel arrangements, and recruiting.
Southern also serves as the head baseball coach at Elmhurst.
In 2011, Southern helped guide the Bluejays to a 42-53 overall record. In 2010, Southern led the Bluejays to a 39-57 overall record. Amanda Warwick became the first-ever Bluejay to bowl a perfect game.
In 2009, Southern guided the Bluejays to their best season in the program's brief five-year history. Elmhurst finished the season with a 66-45 overall record and was ranked 15th in the final NTCA poll.Â
In 2007-08, Southern led the Bluejays to their first winning season in program history posting a 39-35 record. Bethany Holden was honored as the NTCA Division III Rookie of the Year.
Before coming to Elmhurst, Southern served as an assistant baseball coach at Western New England State University. In addition to his coaching duties at Western New England, Southern also served as the head coach of the Holyoke Giants in the New England College Baseball League (NECBL), a wood-bat collegiate summer league.Â
He also served as an assistant coach at the University of Chicago from 1997-98.
A 1994 graduate of Augustana College (Ill.), Southern was a three-year starter and letterwinner for the Vikings' baseball team, earning all-CCIW second-team honors as well as being chosen as a third-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American®. Southern finished his Augustana baseball career with a .308 batting average. He also earned two varsity letters in football at Augustana.
Southern earned a Master of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1995. He also earned his Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry from Chicago in 1999. Most recently, he earned a Master of Education degree in physical education (concentration in athletic administration) at Springfield College (Mass.) in 2004.
In addition to his coaching duties, Southern also served as an adjunct professor of chemistry at Elmhurst.
Southern is a native of Latham, Ill. He and his wife, Carey, are the parents of two sons, Paul and Daniel, and they reside in Villa Park.
