College Sports Information Directors of America

Debbie Harmison Byrne of Old Dominion, Marc Dellins of UCLA, Nan Holyoak of Weber State, Debby Jennings of Tennessee, Rob Schabert of Tennessee Tech, Michael Sondheimer of UCLA, Marty Valdez of Cal State-Hayward and Bob Vazquez of Stanford will each receive a 25-Year Award from the College Sports Information Directors of America. The award is given to CoSIDA members who have completed 25 years in the profession, and this year's recipients will receive their awards Monday, June 30, from noon to 2 p.m. at CoSIDA's annual workshop's Kickoff Luncheon, which is being held in Cleveland, Ohio, this year. Debbie Byrne Byrne is the associate athletics director at Old Dominion and supervises the areas of marketing, public relations and ticket operations. She joined the staff at Old Dominion in 1979 as the assistant sports information director, was promoted to sports information director the following year, and played a key role in the national exposure both the men' and women's basketball teams enjoyed in the 1980s. She served on the 1981 and 1982 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival media staffs and was selected to represent the U.S. on the media coordination team at the 1984 Winter Olympics. She is a past member of the NCAA Communications Committee, NCAA Basketball Marketing Committee, and Creative Content Committee for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Byrne is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame Honors Court and has served as the press moderator at 17 NCAA Women's Final Fours. Marc Dellins Dellins began work in the UCLA sports information office as a freshman in the fall of 1972, working four years for CoSIDA Hall of Fame member Vic Kelley. Following his 1976 graduation, he was hired as an assistant SID and served as assistant and associate until 1984 when he was named the school's SID. He added the title of associate athletics director in the summer of 1998. He supervises a staff of six assistants for UCLA's 24-sport program and he and his three associate SIDs -- Bill Bennett, Steve Rourke and Rich Bertolucci -- have been together for 19 years. In addition to handling football sports information duties on a daily basis, Dellins assists with men's basketball plus is responsible for scheduling for football and men's basketball. During his tenure, UCLA has hosted numerous NCAA championship and regional events plus Dellins has worked 17 bowl games and served as assistant venue press chief for gymnastics during the 1984 Olympic Games. Nan Holyoak Holyoak has been the associate sports information director at Weber State University since 1994 after serving as the school's assistant SID from 1978-94. She handles all media relations for women's volleyball, women's basketball, tennis and golf. Prior to coming to Weber State, Holyoak taught physical education in the Salt Lake City, Utah, school system for four years. She received her associate's degree from Weber College in 1957, her bachelor's degree from Utah State in 1959 and her master's from the University of Florida in 1977. Holyoak has attended 14 Co SIDA Workshops. She has two daughters, Stacey and Lori, and one grandchild. Debbie Jennings Jennings, a 1977 graduate of the University of Tennessee, became a full-time sports information director at her alma mater in the summer of 1978 and has just completed her 26th year at the helm of the Lady Vols media relations office. She is the only director of media relations in the history of the University of Tennessee, and was promoted to associate athletics director for media relations in 1998. Last year, Jennings became just the third female ever inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, and due in part to that achievement, the city of Knoxville celebrated "Debby Jennings Day", Nov. 26, 2002. She has accumulated over 100 publication awards, with more than half representing "Best in the Nation" distinction, including 16 honors last year. Jennings has served as a media coordinator at the 1984 and 1996 Olympics and the 1987 Pan American Games. She also directed publicity and media relations for the 1990 NCAA Women's Final Four, and served a two-year stint as president of the Southeastern Conference Sports Information Directors. Jennings has co-authored a book with UT head women's basketball coach Pat Summitt and Nancy Lieberman-Cline plus is an adjunct professor at Tennessee. In 1995, Jennings became the first-ever sports information director to receive the Mel Greenberg Award for lifelong contributions to women's basketball. Rob Schabert Schabert is in his 21st year as the sports information director at Tennessee Tech University and his 26th year overall in the sports information profession. He has served on the Ethics Committee and the Writing Committee for CoSIDA plus is a member of the national baseball and basketball writer's associations. In 1987, he established the Athletic Director's Honor Roll at Tech, and initiated the President's Award program in 1994. A native of St. Paul, Minn., Schabert earned his bachelor's degree in mass communications from St. Cloud State in 1977. He spent one year as an assistant director of public relations for the Minnesota Twins and was SID at Minnesota State-Mankato for five years. In February of 2002, Schabert was a volunteer on the press operations staff with the Salt Lake Olympic Committee. He and his wife, Joan, have two children -- Matt and Kristen. Matt has recently accepted an internship in the Virginia Tech sports information office, and Kristen just completed her first year as a student assistant on the Austin Peay State University sports information staff. Michael Sondheimer Sondheimer has been a member of the athletics staff at UCLA for 26 years and is currently associate athletics director/recruiting coordinator. He earned a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 1977 and his master's from the school in 1979. Sondheimer began his work at UCLA in 1977 as the women's athletics promotions director. From 1978-82, he served as the women's sports information/promotions director. From 1982-85, he was an assistant athletics director for women's sports and recruiting coordinator for 21 sports. Sondheimer has been a member of the CoSIDA NCAA Legislation Committee since 1991 and was chair of that committee from 1997-99. He was a member of the CoSIDA Women In Sports Committee from 1979-87. Sondheimer has won 20 CoSIDA publication awards plus received the 2001 E. Douglas Boyden USA Volleyball Media Award and the 2000 Grant Burger AVCA Volleyball Media Award. Sondheimer, the inaugural winner of the Virgo Nelson National College Volleyball Publicity Award in 1983, was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Media Hall of Fame in 1993. Marty Valdez Valdez has served as the sports information director at Cal State Hayward since 1977 plus serves as the game manager for all home games for the school. From 1983-87, he also served as the sports information director for the Northern California Athletic Conference. He is the Cal State-Hayward Athletic Hall of Fame Committee Historian, and has served on numerous football and basketball homecoming committees for the university. Valdez directs his one-man office for the school's 17 sports, and had no student assistants for the first 18 years of his position. Bob Vazquez Vazquez has spent the last 19 years as the media relations director at Stanford University after serving as the SID at UC Santa Barbara from 1978-83. He has served on numerous CoSIDA committees and his media guides have won 17 CoSIDA publication awards. Vazquez served on the men's basketball press relations staff at the 1984 Olympics plus has been a media coordinator for numerous PAC-10 Championships and NCAA national and regional tournaments. A 1972 graduate of San Diego State, he served as a reporter, writer, editor and producer for United Press International, KSDO Radio and KFMB-TV in San Diego.