BU’s Joey Dales: Not Your Average Student

Joey Dales is not your average student at Bluefield University. He is a multi-sport athlete as a member of the Rams football and golf teams. 

Dales has lived in Bluefield, Virginia, all his life. He has also played sports all throughout his life, including soccer, basketball, golf and football at Graham High School.

After high school, Dales went to Carson Newman University on a scholarship to play football, but he left Carson Newman, he said, because of the COVID situation. He noted that he was rarely allowed to leave his dorm room, and that didn’t give him the “college experience” he was looking for. 

So Dales came back to Bluefield and enrolled at Bluefield University in the fall of 2021. He said he chose BU because he lives here and because he got an offer to play football for the Rams. 

“This has always been my home,” Dales said about his decision to come back to Bluefield. He added that he knows a lot of people in the community and that the people here are very friendly and will have your back if you need anything.

Now a BU sophomore on the football field and junior in the classroom, Dales majors in Exercise and Sport Science, but he says he is interested in changing his major, but doesn’t quite know what he wants to change it to.

In addition to football, Dales plays golf for the Rams. On the football field as the team’s punter and kicker, he has won multiple Player of the Week awards both this season and last season. In fact, he was named Appalachian Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year for 2022.

Outside of school and sports, Dales said he enjoys “hanging out with friends when I have free time or playing video games.” He said he also likes to practice his golf and go to the driving range to hit golf balls when he has time. 

Photo courtesy of bcrams.com.