BUTTE VALLEY — A few days after hiring a new head volleyball coach, and a few weeks after naming a new interim athletic director, Butte College has hired a new head softball coach.
Joshua Correa takes over the vacant spot left by former head coach Stayce York, who retired effective June 30.
Correa spent last season working with both the Butte College baseball and softball teams, specifically working with hitters and catchers. He had been working with the Roadrunners’ baseball team and the Chico Aces before leaving the Aces to assist the softball team at Butte College. Then York was put on administrative leave March 6 pending an investigation.
Butte College has hired Joshua Correa as its new head softball coach. Correa is shown here in his role as assistant baseball coach Friday, April 5, 2024 at Butte College in Butte Valley, California. (Sue McCool/Contributed)
“To be frank, without knowing all the details that happened last year, I just saw the fallout of it,” Correa said. “From what I saw, from player to player it didn’t seem like there was a lot of trust and a lot of unity. It was not the way I’d want a program to be run. I want the players to do everything for each other, to do all that they can, and I feel like that’s what was shown last season with the baseball team.”
On April 5, Butte College announced that York had been put on an administrative leave March 6, citing an unspecified investigation. When the college was asked about the pending investigation Monday, Butte College Public Relations Office Christian Gutierrez said, “the college cannot comment on those personnel matters at this moment.”
Correa stressed the importance of unity, trust, having integrity amongst all, and a family aspect. He is excited that upon hearing of his hiring, out of the 10 possible returning players the Roadrunners were going to get, all 10 wanted to stay and play for him.
“I feel like that’s probably a good thing,” Correa said. “I feel like it’s because I’m naturally less intense than a natural dude or head coach. I feel like it’s very easy to get a point across to someone who’s older and intelligent without having to yell. We can tell them what they’re doing, we can tell them how they messed up, we can tell them how to get better without humiliating them and the old school stuff. We just tell them and explain to them how it is. If we’re telling them this is how it works, if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine, you’re probably just not going to get great results, and you’re probably not going to play.”
Correa’s playing background comes from his days playing baseball at Lassen College, before transferring to a small four-year university in Texas. He coached football, basketball and baseball as a summer job, beginning at 18 years old. He is now 32.
After his baseball playing days ended at age 24 from a shoulder injury, he found a love of golf, went back to Sierra Junior College and competed in college golf. He then turned that into a career, working at Bidwell Park Golf Course, Wilcox Oaks Golf Club in Red Bluff, and The Links at Rolling Hills in Corning.
In 2020, he realized how much he missed baseball, and he got involved with the Chico Aces organization, teaching 13- and 14-year-olds during the school year, and 16- and 17-year-olds over the summers.
When Chico High School’s job recently opened up in summer 2023, Correa looked into it but realized after talks with Butte College baseball coach Anthony Ferro that he had a desire to coach junior college and higher. Ferro instead invited him to join the coaching staff for the Butte College baseball team.
“I was a presence in the dugout for a lot of guys,” Correa said. “If they had a rough at bat I’d say, ‘Come sit down next to me. Tell me what you saw, and tell me what you thought. Let’s have a plan in place for the next one.’ A lot of the coaches were busy setting outfield alignment and calling pitches, and I was able to be with the players and say, ‘next time in this situation, let’s do this instead.’”
Correa called learning from Ferro, “priceless,” and knew he could use the experience to lead a program of his own one day. He didn’t realize how soon that opportunity would come.
“If you’re there and paying attention and absorbing what he’s got for you, there’s 20-plus years of expertise that’s flowing day to day,” Correa said. “That’s really important to pick up if you can pay attention to it.”
Correa said his strengths are in his communication and getting the most out of his players. That goes back to his days as a catcher when he tried to get the most out of each and every pitcher.
“It’s making it very clear that this is the way we do things, this is how I want them done, and if it doesn’t work out, but you go 100% and try it this way, then it’s on me,” Correa said. “I’m not going to try and ask you to do something, you not do it perfectly, and then blame you for it. I feel like that integrity and accountability starts with me as well.”
When the softball team needed help in the middle of its season, Ferro reached out to Correa. Ferro told Correa that he didn’t want him to go, but he had always told him he would try to help him out in the future. Roadrunner softball was his opportunity.
In the second half of the softball season, Correa fell in love with the game. At first it was a new challenge that sounded fun and similar to baseball. He then learned minute differences in softball and fell in love with the speed of the game. It was faster than the game of baseball, every mistake was amplified, which made it exciting all the time.
“I honestly fell in love with all of it, and it’s always been a dream of mine to run my own program or steer my own ship,” Correa said. “There comes a time where you wonder if I could do it. That part is super attractive. I think I could do it. Obviously it’ll be slightly different. The sports are slightly different, one you’re coaching guys, one you’re coaching girls, but at the end of the day you’re trying to create a better player and a better human than what was brought in.”
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