Official Site of Florida State College at Jacksonville Athletics

Coach Jody Hale joined the Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) BlueWave Athletics team in 2017 to help relaunch the women’s cross-country program. He is a native of Jacksonville and competed in track and cross country at Englewood High School. As a walk-on athlete and later team captain at FSCJ (formerly Florida Junior College), he earned All-District and All-Region honors. Coach Hale continued his academic and athletic pursuits at Delta State University where he earned All-Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II Academic All-American honors. He was also the assistant cross-country coach.

 Coach Hale is no stranger to the FSCJ Athletics. He was assistant coach for cross country and track and field at FSCJ from 1982-1995, working with legendary FSCJ Coach Larry Monts. The FSCJ women’s cross-country team won the NJCAA National Championship in 1982 and 1983.  During this tenure at FJC/FCCJ he coached several individual national champions and over 50 NJCAA All-Americans.

 Coach Hale spent 11 years at St. Johns Country Day School as assistant coach for cross country and track and field under distance running legend Jay Birmingham. During that time, the team won nine FSHAA District Team Championships, two Regional Team Championships, two Individual FSHAA State Champions, two Relay Team FSHAA State Champions, six FSHAA All-State Relay Teams, four Regional FSHAA Relay Champions, nine Individual FSHAA Regional Champions, 26 All-State Athletes, 55 All-Regional Athletes, and over 220 All-District Athletes.

 During his time as the head coach FSCJ cross-country has had 4 NJCAA All-Regional athletes, 8 All-Mid Florida conference athletes and 5 FSCJ Teams have been ranked in the Top 20 teams in the nation. The XC team have been awarded the NJCAA XC Coaches Association All-America Scholar Team Award 6 times, have had over 40 athletes named to the Mid-Florida Conference All-Academic team, the FCSAA All-Academic team, the NJCAA Region 8 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and the NATYCA Male National Scholar Athlete of the Year.

 Anyone who has ever talked with Coach Hale about his experience as an athlete and a coach will hear him say that he considers himself blessed to have had the opportunity to work under Coach Monts and Coach Birmingham and to now coach at FSCJ. An FSCJ cross-country athlete has the opportunity for a quality education, participation in a nationally ranked program, and a chance to move to the next level.

 Coach Hale earned an A.A. degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville, a B.S. in Education from Delta State University, and an M.S. in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology from the University of Florida. Coach Hale’s certifications include Level 1 and Level 2 Track Coach, Sports Specific Strength and Power, and Principles of Endurance Training from USA Track and Field (USATF), in addition to Strength and Conditioning certification from the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Coach Hale is also a certified Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.