As March rolls around, spring sports are gearing up for the new season. However, one new addition to the array of spring sports offered at WJ is flying under the radar: allied softball.
Although Allied Softball is new to WJ, it isn’t unfamiliar to the county. It is one of the few corollary sports MCPS offers, along with pickleball (fall) and bocce (winter). These sports were created to increase opportunities for all students to participate in athletics, particularly students with disabilities.
WJ paraeducator Joe Bruneel will serve as the head coach.
Bruneel works with a variety of WJ students in the classroom and is also the defensive coordinator for the varsity football team. He has coached the allied softball team at Einstein High School for the previous three years, so he comes into this season with existing knowledge about the sport. His experience pushes him to be a big advocate for the sport this season.
“This is brand new to the school and I need to be an enthusiastic salesperson of this great sport,” coach Joe Bruneel said.
Going into the upcoming season, Bruneel has a lot on his mind in order to succeed; however, he has one main focus.
“My biggest focus this season is the same for any sport I coach:

,” Bruneel said. “I want everyone to have fun.”
With this goal in mind, there is one aspect of the difficult sport that concerns Bruneel, which is getting outs. In traditional softball, each team is required to obtain three outs to end their time in the field. However, in Allied softball, for all but the last inning, there is a five-run maximum for the offensive team, which does make defense easier, but still tricky.
In addition to the allied softball that WJ is offering this spring, there is also non-corollary varsity and JV softball, which have been successful in recent years, being back-to-back regional champions. With all of their success, they are excited to see the new allied softball team form.
“It excites me to see softball being more inclusive within WJ and giving more people the opportunity to try the sport that brings so much joy and friendship to me,” junior softball player Elizabeth Borrisow said.