Joe Richmond has a passion for two things, which when blended together, made the Napa High experience even better for students. Devoted to shaping student athletes and the game of soccer, Richmond used these passions to motivate and educate students for over thirty years while serving as a teacher in the Napa High English Department.
Richmond began his coaching career in 1976 and won Boys MEL League titles in 1980 & 1981. In the 1988-1989 season, his boys’ team advanced to the Sac Joaquin Section playoffs. Additionally, Joe served as the JV boys basketball coach from 1977 to 1990.
While Richmond enjoyed success coaching boys soccer, his passion for students and the game became more evident when, in 1989, he was asked to grow the soccer program at Napa High by establishing the first girls soccer team. Richmond did so at the urging of several female athletes who had played youth soccer and wanted the same opportunity in high school.
Fellow Napa High teacher Rich Perkins in his nomination letter on behalf of Richmond writes, “Borrowing discarded men’s uniforms and left-over equipment, eighteen women were the motley crew of Napa High’s first ever women’s soccer team. After four years, over fifty women would try out for women’s soccer at NHS. Due to the formation of the 1989 team other MEL schools followed suit.”
Richmond’s contribution in his life’s work as both teacher and coach, and his efforts in establishing the first girls soccer program, has earned him a well-deserved place in the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame.