WAYNE – Ted Williamson brought home the first place finish in the American Checkers Federation National tournament in Lebanon, Tennessee recently.

Williamson is a local to Wayne, as a retired teacher and now substitute for the Board of Education he said he picked up the hobby of checkers in 2007.

Williamson was also a former football coach at Wayne and Buffalo Middle schools where he won multiple county championships for both teams. His son, Wade Williamson is now the head basketball coach for the Lady Pioneers and assistant football coach for the football team.

Williamson was homebound for a while and said he began playing checkers online and attended his first ever checkers tournament in August of 2007 at Morristown, Missouri.

He said he learned how to play from some local guys in the Westmoreland and Kenova area, Don Money, Claude Webb, and Boyd Smith. Williamson is only one of two players from West Virginia to compete at the national level – the other is Charles Woolum from Delbarton, WV.

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Article also ran in The Herald-Dispatch Huntington, WV  Wed Aug 9, 2017  |  herald-dispatch.com