Tifton Scene July 2022 | Page 11

And the rest is history .
ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer called Walls and said he wanted to send her a plane ticket to fly back to Georgia for a job interview . After the extensive question and answer session , Kramer offered Walls her first head coaching job with the Golden Fillies .
Another cross-country drive from California . And Walls started filling her wardrobe with green and gold accessories . Ah , but there ’ s another side to this story .
“ I had met this guy and he was working for the Americus Fire Department ,” Walls said . “ We did the long-distance relationship thing when I was back in California and he was in Americus .”
Needless to say , Addison Walls was quite excited that Jennifer Martinez was staking a claim in Tifton . It just so happened that Tifton needed another fireman .
“ I love living here ,” Walls said . “ Life here is a lot slower than California . Everybody ’ s always in
“ I love it here . I know the pressure that Division I coaches have on them . This is where I want to be .”
a hurry there . Life slows down here which is what I love .”
A relationship turned into a marriage . And now the Walls family includes daughter Riley and soon-to-be second daughter Presley , who ’ s due in July .
Besides being the ABAC softball coach , Walls is the assistant director for recreational sports and runs the Thrash Wellness Center and the Foundation Legacy Pool . Her office is in the beautifully renovated Thrash Wellness Center .
As she sits in her office and hears the sound of ABAC students exercising in the background , Walls thinks about exercising her mind . “ I would really like to go back to school one day and get a doctorate degree ,” Walls said . “ Then maybe I could get a job as an athletics director .”
From a player to a coach who is now a wife and a mom , the next step for the California Girl turned Coach of the Year in Georgia certainly seems possible . TS
JULY 2022 | TiftonScene 11