LIVINGSTON, Ala. — Longtime University of West Alabama broadcaster and administrator Will Atkinson has been named the play-by-play announcer for the Meridian Blues during the organization's inaugural season in the Mid America League.
Atkinson will serve as the "Voice of the Blues," broadcasting all 32 home games from Scaggs Field on the campus of Meridian Community College.
Known across the Gulf South Conference as the "Voice of the Tigers," Atkinson has spent 12 years as a broadcaster for UWA Athletics. During that span, he has called more than 500 games, covering football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, and baseball.
Since the partnership between FloSports and the Gulf South Conference began in 2020, Atkinson has been featured on numerous FloSports broadcasts and also appeared on ESPN+ during West Alabama's NCAA Division II Football Playoff matchup against Lenoir-Rhyne on November 23, 2024.
In recent years, Atkinson has also served as a broadcaster for Gulf South Conference baseball tournament coverage in Oxford, AL.
Before moving into broadcasting, Atkinson built an accomplished coaching career. He served as the University of West Alabama's head softball coach from 2007-2016. Under his leadership, the Tigers earned three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2011-2013, highlighted by the program's only NCAA South Regional Championship in 2011.
Across a 15-year collegiate head coaching career, Atkinson amassed more than 400 career victories and was named the Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year in 2005.
Away from athletics, Atkinson was inducted into the Bob Jones High School Hall of Fame in 2013 and received the Loraine McIlwain Bell Professional Staff Excellence Award at UWA in 2020.
Along with his broadcasting duties, Atkinson currently serves as the Director of Student Advocacy at the University of West Alabama.
Atkinson's experience as both a former collegiate player and coach allows him to bring unique perspective, insight, and energy to every broadcast, helping fans connect with the game through vivid storytelling and analysis.
Originally from Madison, Alabama, Atkinson is now a longtime resident of Livingston, Alabama, with his wife, April. The couple has one daughter, Neely, who attends the University of West Alabama.
