Julia Casey
Julia Allen Casey is the daughter of Euell and Helen Allen. She grew up in Arab, Alabama, attending Grassy Junior High and Arab High School. Julia graduated from Arab High in 1973 and attended Snead State Junior College, Jacksonville State University and the University of Alabama. She earned a BS in 1977 with a major in Physical Education and a minor in math and master’s degrees in Physical Education from JSU and Mathematics from Alabama.
The opportunity to play high school sports was not available to many female athletes when Julia was in school, as Title IX was not passed by the U.S. Congress until 1972. Even though she loved basketball, softball and tennis, there were no opportunities for her to compete in high school. In 1975, Julia transferred to JSU where the athletic department was trying to institute women’s basketball, volleyball and tennis teams without actually giving scholarships. She saw the opportunity that she wanted all of her life and tried out for all 3 teams. Julia wanted to learn about coaching the game and teaching the skills, so equipped with few athletic skills and only her desire to coach and make a difference in the lives of girls, she made the basketball, volleyball and tennis teams. In the spring of 1977, Julia was moved to the number three position on the tennis team.
The Marshall County Board of Education hired Julia Allen and Hall of Fame nominee, Phil Isom, to coach and teach at Grassy in 1977. That year, Julia’s first girls team, and Grassy’s second, made it to the finals of the county tournament before losing to Asbury. The 1980 team won Coach Casey her first county tournament with outstanding players like Angela Martin and Trish Reynolds, who went on to outstanding careers at Arab and in college. The 1981 team went undefeated until being upset in the first round of the county tournament. From 1982-84, Grassy won three straight county tournaments. Sonia Norris and (the late) Kristy Franks Chandler were two of the players that went on to play for Arab High School, winning three more county championships under Coach Bill Pike. Very few athletes have ever been a part of six consecutive county championships, never losing a county tournament. Kristy played at Snead, and following her untimely death in 2006, a fund was set up to build a playground in her honor in Grant.
The 1986 team gave Coach Casey’s girls team the fifth county title in seven years. In 1993, with only seven players, Grassy beat DAR for the small school title and then beat Albertville to win the over all county championship in one of the greatest comeback wins in Marshall County history. Down 15 points in the third quarter, point guard Me’Shell Perkins broke the Aggie press, Amy Nix made five of six free throws and Charlotte Coffen made a three-point shot to tie the game at the end of regulation. Grassy won in overtime by a score of 49-48. Julia’s seventh county championship came in 1998 as Grassy won the small school division by beating Union Grove.
After coaching 24 years at Grassy, the new Brindlee Mountain Middle School was built and Coach Casey transferred there and continued coaching. In 2004, the Marshall County Board of Education started a new high school at Brindlee Mountain and Julia was named as the Lions’ first head girls varsity basketball coach. Moving up to the varsity were middle school players, such as Shelayla Lemons, one of the better point guards in the county, along with Samantha Bonds, Carla Hill and Katie Mason. In their second year of play, the team made the Sweet Sixteen, playing on Julia’s old court at JSU. The 2005-06 team ended their season 8-0 in regular season area play and an overall record of 17-11. Scholarships to Snead State were given to Shelayla in basketball and Katie in softball. Julia continued to coach one more year for a total of 30 years.
Even though Julia is retired from coaching, she has not retired from teaching. She was named Brindlee Mountain High School’s teacher of the year in 2007-08 and started a FTA (Future Teachers of Alabama) Chapter at the high school. During her time at Grassy, she was also the math team coach. Her teams consistently placed in the top three in county competitions and won the small school division every year in which they competed. Julia has just completed her 32nd year of teaching. The positive effect that she has had on thousands of students is immeasurable.
Julia is married to Kerry Casey and the couple resides in the Brashiers Chapel community near Arab, where she is an active member of the Old Brashiers Chapel United Methodist Church.