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Brocato, Hymel to receive 2011 Distinguished Service Award
NATCHITOCHES, LA – Two iconic figures on the Louisiana sports media scene who remain active today, acclaimed New Orleans sports writer/historian Ron Brocato and trailblazing Southeastern Louisiana University sports information director Larry Hymel, are the winners of the 2011 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
Brocato has been producing award-winning content since the late 1960s in his hometown, while Hymel was SLU’s first SID, serving in that capacity for 28 years and remaining active with the university’s alumni association coordinating relations and activities engaging former Lions and Lady Lions. Both have served on the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame selection committee since its inception in 1982.
The Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism is the most prestigious honor offered to sports media in the state. Recipients are chosen by the 30-member Hall of Fame selection committee based on their professional accomplishments in local, state, regional and even national arenas, with leadership in the LSWA a contributing factor and three decades of work in the profession as a requirement.
Distinguished Service Award winners join the “writers and broadcasters wing” of the Hall of Fame and will be recognized in the Hall along with the 285 athletes, coaches and administrators chosen for enshrinement since 1959. Only 48 prominent figures in the state’s sports media have been honored with the Distinguished Service Award since its inception in 1982.
Brocato and Hymel will be among 11 honored guests Saturday night, June 25, at the Natchitoches Events Center for the 2011 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Ceremonies. The event is the culmination of the 2011 Induction Celebration beginning Thursday afternoon and evening, June 23, with the La Capitol/Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Press Conference and Kickoff Reception.
More information is available at the
www.lasportshall.com website, the internet home for the Hall of Fame. Tickets and other event participation opportunities will be available through the website this spring.
New Orleans Saints stars Morten Andersen, Vaughn Johnson and Buford Jordan, along with LSU All-American and 12-year major league baseball infielder Todd Walker and NBA standout Donald “Slick” Watts, are among the eight 2011 inductees who will enter the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. High school football coaching great Don Shows, Louisiana-Lafayette softball All-America pitcher Kyla Hall and innovative LSU athletic director Thomas P. “Skipper” Heard complete the Hall’s 2011 induction class. Heard will be honored posthumously.
“Few have told the story of Louisiana sports as well as Ron Brocato and Larry Hymel,” said Lori Lyons, president of the LSWA. “This recognition salutes their continuing contributions and decades of impact throughout Louisiana. They already are legends among their peers in the LSWA, and this honor ensures their rightful place among the greatest names in our state’s sports history.”
The first full time sports information director for Southeastern, Hymel served in that capacity for 28 years, the first 14 years working without full-time assistants. He was honored by the College Sports Information Directors with a Lifetime Membership upon retirement and cited by the organization for 25-year service to the association.
Hymel was named to Southeastern’s Athletic Hall of Fame for Distinguished Service in the 1994-95 year. The LSWA bestowed its coveted Mac Russo Award to him in 1994, recognizing his valuable and varied contributions to the organization.
He received All-American awards from the National Association of Intercollegiate athletics five times for his football game programs, including in 1974 when it was ranked second best in the nation.
Hymel won two CoSIDA district awards, one in 1990 for Excellence in Writing and in 1988 for the men’s basketball brochure, co-edited by assistants Barry Niemeyer and Mickey Triche, as the best in the district. He won LSWA Awards for best football program in 1984 (third) and for feature writing (second) in 1985.
After leaving the SID office, Hymel was director of Southeastern’s University Center basketball and events center for 11 years, managing the facility while it became the home for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s annual state girls basketball championship tournament known originally as the “Sweet 16.” The tourney set attendance records and the arena and its staff earned rave reviews for their management skills as fans filed in from around the state year after year.
Upon his retirement from full-time duties at SLU in 2005, he began work as the Alumni Athletic Coordinator for the Southeastern Alumni Association. He coordinates the university’s Hall of Fame Day activities.
Hymel managed the LSWA High School and College newspaper writing contests for several years beginning in the 1970s.
As Sports Editor of the Hammond Daily Star in 1966, he won LSWA awards for writing (first, second and third places in different categories), while also gaining recognition for excellence from the Associated Press. Hymel earned an AP La-Miss honorable mention for photography in 1966 and AP La-Miss honorable mention for sports writing in 1966.