Difference Maker: Scott Williams using recreation to help people of all abilities

When Scott Williams was growing up in Anna, Illinois, he loved to organize kickball, softball or basketball games for his friends in his neighborhood and school.

He said, at the time, he had no idea this could be a profession. Years later, Williams took that natural inclination and turned it into a career, and today works as a division manager for the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department.

Williams credits his mom for seeing the skills he had and giving him a brochure for Southeast Missouri State University.

“It was all about their recreation major,” Williams said. “I didn’t know that was a thing, but once I got to SEMO and saw all the opportunities the degree offers, I really got interested and I’ve never looked back.”

From a young age, Williams said he’s enjoyed serving his community. He said he wants to have an impact outside of his own life. He believes he’s been able to do that through volunteer opportunities with organizations such as the Cape Girardeau Noon Optimists Club as well as his job, which includes working with the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Foundation.

Williams said he has worked with several other Parks and Recreation employees, including his wife Penny, to move the Foundation towards the “fundraising arm” of the department.

“We wanted it to be its own revenue source to help with supporting Parks and Recreation for things that the operating budget couldn’t do,” Williams said.

Another way Williams said he’s had an impact is through his position as program director for the Special Olympics in Southeast Missouri. He said he was first introduced to the Special Olympics when he was a student at SEMO. He started as a volunteer and has been a part of the program for the last 26 years.

Williams said working with Special Olympics helps him fulfill what he sees as one of the main duties of the Parks and Recreation Department: To serve every community member in some form or fashion.

“That’s one reason I like being involved with it. I like seeing everybody have a chance to do athletics,” Williams said. “Athletes with intellectual disabilities deserve the chance to do everything that we all get a chance to do growing up and as adults.”

Williams said the great value in athletics is in being coached and held accountable on a field as part of a team. He said athletes of all ages and ability levels learn lessons that carry on through whatever they do in life.

“You learn to not let your teammates down,” Williams said. “You learn your team can’t function well if you’re not at practice or, later in life, at work. You learn how your strengths help cover others’ weaknesses and how others’ cover yours.”

Williams said he’s proud to be a part of the partnership between the Parks and Recreations Department and Cape Girardeau Public Schools. Combining their intramural athletics programs has increased student participation, and Williams said he’s excited to see those numbers continue to grow.

Williams said he enjoys seeing the generational aspect of athletics and other forms of community recreation. He’s old enough now to have seen people who participated in sports and other activities when they were children and now have grown up and started working for the Parks and Recreation Department themselves.

“Or they come to watch their own kids competing,” Williams said. “My family is a Parks and Rec. Family. Me and my wife work there, and my kids have grown up playing and volunteering there. I’m proud of my work, and I wouldn’t do anything differently.”