College Sports Information Directors of America

By Mike Albright

 

As the end of the 2004-05 academic year begins to appear on the horizon and many of us start making plans for the summer, including CoSIDA’s annual workshop slated for Philadelphia, it seems appropriate to remind the membership that the deadline for the 2005 Fred S. Stabley Sr. Writing Contest is rapidly approaching.

 

Once again this past year, countless athletes have crafted amazing stories, both in and out of their respective competitive arenas, and sports information folks have been there every step of the way to accurately and creatively chronicle those feats.

How many stories have you written this year? Probably more than you recall.

With that in mind, CoSIDA members are encouraged to submit entries for this year’s Writing Contest. The deadline for entries is May 15 (contest guidelines and a district coordinator list follows).

Writing is a skill we all possess, and a skill we are called upon to use on a daily basis in our chosen profession. With that in mind, I’m sure you can find several worthy articles that deserve to be entered into this year’s contest.

I encourage you to submit as many stories as possible, and feel free to address questions you may have to any member of the committee.

 

Best of luck!

The CoSIDA Fred S. Stabley Sr. Writing Contest is open to all members of CoSIDA and is the only contest sponsored by CoSIDA that does not discriminate because of budget, athletic competition level or size of staff. All entries are considered to be on a level playing field. The Contest is comprised of five categories (athlete feature, general feature, coach/administrator profile, event coverage and historical feature). Members may submit up to THREE stories per category.

1. All dues-paying members of CoSIDA are encouraged to enter the contest. Non-members of CoSIDA who work in a sports information/media relations capacity (graduate assistants, interns, student assistants and volunteers) are invited to submit stories as long as each entry is sponsored by a dues-paying member of that office.

2. Entries must come from a campus publicity office, a conference office or a sports governing body that deals directly with college athletics. The stories must have been generated through the normal daily role of the office.

3. Entries must be postmarked no later than May 15, 2005 to be considered for the 2004-05 contest (again, members may submit up to THREE entries per category).

4. An original version of the story, from the actual publication, must be submitted along with THREE photocopies of the story. The contest name must appear on the outside of the envelope. Raw manuscript (on institutional letterhead) or internet version of an article is acceptable for stories that were generated but never appeared in a printed medium.

 

 5. Entries must be in prose form. No game notes, fact sheets, etc., may be submitted.

6. A copy of the entry form must be stapled to your original, but not to the photocopies.

7. Entries will be judged on overall writing style, correct use of English, inventiveness, written presentation and the ease with which the reader acquires the information. Story layout and design are not factored into the judging process, although typographical errors may be counted against the story in the overall judging.

All entries shall be forwarded to a district representative, who will gather a panel of three judges. The stories will be judged by category only, with certificates awarded based on the number of entries in each category (one certificate for categories with one to five entries, two certificates for categories with six to 10 entries and three certificates for categories with more than 10 entries). The top story in each category at the district level will be forwarded to a national panel of judges, who will select the top three stories in each of the five categories. Only the top story from each category at the national level will be moved into consideration for “National Story of the Year,” where the top three selections will receive certificates. Only one certificate will be awarded to any story that advances beyond the district judging phase, and that certificate will indicate the highest award earned by the entry.

District coordinators reserve the right to re-classify an entry if it is not submitted for the proper category. Coordinators may also request additional writings samples from an entrant.

 

The entry blank is located in the Digest, and is also available at www.cosida.com as well as from a district coordinator. Be sure to use one entry blank per story, and remember to staple it to your original entry only, not the photocopies.

Any questions may be directed to your district coordinator, or to:

Assoc. Director, Media Relations

U.S. Military Academy

(845) 938-6871

 

Director, Media Relations

Cornell University

(607) 255-9788

District 1 (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec)

 

West Virginia University

P.O. Box 877

Morgantown, WV 26507-0877

(304) 293-2821

District 2 (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia)

University of Florida

P.O. Box 14485

Gainesville, FL 32604-2485

(352) 375-4683 (ext. 6128)

District 3 (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia)

 

Muhlenberg College

2400 Chew Street

Allentown, PA 18104

(484) 664-3232

District 4 (Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee)

South Atlantic Conference

Suite 130, Gateway Plaza

226 North Park Drive

Rock Hill, SC 29730

(803) 366-8215

District 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Ontario)

University of Louisville

2100 South Floyd Street

Louisville, KY 40292

(502) 852-7711

 

District 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas)

 

Purdue University

Room 15

Mackey Arena

West Lafayette, IN 47907-1790

(765) 494-3145

District 7 (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan)

Abilene Christian University

Box 27795

Abilene, TX 79699-7795

(915) 674-2693

District 8 (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, British Columbia and Yukon)

 

Wartburg College

Box 1003

100 Wartburg Road

Waverly, IA 50677-0903

(319) 352-8208