In closed session on Monday, May 13, the Sedalia School District 200 Board of Education approved the promotion of Josh Dawson to head coach for the Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers softball program.

Dawson, who served as an assistant coach for S-C last season, also was a softball assistant coach for Knob Noster in 2016-17; the Panthers were Class 2, District 13 champions in 2017. He also was basketball and baseball head coach for the Wellsville-Middletown R-I district from 2012-2016, earning District 11 Coach of the Year and Northeast Region Class 1 Coach of the Year honors.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education/Physical Education from Westminster College in Fulton in May 2012. He serves as a special education teacher at Smith-Cotton High School, and is an assistant coach for the Tigers baseball and boys basketball teams.

Dawson replaces Megan Palmer, who resigned to take a teaching position in Warsaw. He is grateful for the opportunity to lead the Smith-Cotton softball program.
“I am excited to get started and am ready to play an integral part in the development of a highly competitive program that is able to compete at the highest level in the state,” he said. “I hope to provide the program with some much-needed consistency so we can move forward as a team that works together to achieve great things."

Smith-Cotton Athletic Director Rob Davis said: “We are excited to have Coach Dawson as our next head softball coach. In his only year with us this past year, he has proven to be one of our most dedicated and hard-working coaches. He is able to make immediate connections with student-athletes through his passion and communication abilities. He has experience as a head coach in turning around struggling programs so we anticipate him coming in and making our softball program more competitive.”

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