The Sunshine State Conference will induct former Florida Southern SID Wayne Koehler and assistant commissioner Walt Riddle into the conference Hall of Fame
A graduate of Florida Southern College, Wayne Koehler has spent the last 22 years working for his alma mater, serving as sports information director for 16 years, assistant director of public relations for 15 years, coordinator of publications for four years and for the past two years as the assistant webmaster.
Koehler was instrumental in establishing conference-wide communication in the Sunshine State Conference, helping to compile and distribute statistics, records, press releases and media guides in the days before personal computers, fax machines and e-mail became standard tools of the sports information trade.
As if Koehler’s duties at Florida Southern weren’t enough to keep him busy, he also served as the SSC’s publicity director from 1986 through 1988, using what little free time he had to serve the conference. Koehler is still the primary resource for conference SID’s and SSC staff members that seek archived material and records for virtually every conference sport.
He worked to produce the conference directory for several years and served as the host SID for the first SSC basketball tournament held at the Lakeland Center and the 1983 NCAA Division II volleyball national championship.
A 15-year member of CoSIDA, Koehler served three terms on the NCAA Liaison Committee, was a two-year coordinator of the media guide contest for volleyball and wrestling and a member of the host committee for the 1999 CoSIDA National Workshop in Orlando.
Koehler’s involvement extends to the community where he is the public address announcer for Bartow High School football and served for 15 years in the same capacity for the Lakeland Tigers, Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Along with his daily work on FSC’s website, Koehler is also the webmaster and graphic coordinator for Shepherd Road Presbyterian Church.
He becomes the first sports information director to enter the SSC Hall of Fame.
Walter Riddle has spent the past 15 years leaving his mark on the Sunshine State Conference. In between two stints as the sports information director at Saint Leo University, a post he held from 1989-90 and returned to in 2001, Riddle dedicated 11 years to helping the SSC move forward as the Conference’s assistant commissioner.
During his years at the SSC office, 1991-2001, Riddle was involved in creating and administering many of the activities and programs that have helped the Sunshine State Conference evolve into the “Conference of National Champions”. He assisted with the transition from a split office in the early 1990s to the Orlando-based office of today. He was instrumental in taking the office through the modernization of computer generated statistical programs and handled all sports information duties at the SSC office for its eight member schools.
Riddle chaired the SSC Hall of Fame Committee, oversaw and produced one of the nation’s largest Division II television packages, served as chair of the 1,500-member CoSIDA convention held in Orlando in 1999 and also initiated SSC workshops for league SID’s to ensure consistency among member institutions. While serving as the current director of sports information and marketing at Saint Leo, Riddle has served on the CoSIDA National Board of Directors and as chair of the Saint Leo Athletic Hall of Fame.
He has worked to create partnerships in excess of $25,000 for intercollegiate athletics at Saint Leo and increased media exposure for the Lions. Over the years, Riddle has left his mark as a teacher, mentoring four people who have gone on to become SIDs at SSC schools and countless others who have made their mark in the profession. Prior to working in the conference office, Riddle was an accomplished sports editor and writer for several newspapers, including the Tampa Tribune, Columbia Record (S.C.) and Asheville Citizen (N.C.).
During his 13 years at the Tampa Tribune, Riddle was honored with five state awards.