by Jim Seavey, Massachusetts Maritime Academy Sports Information Director & Compliance
The 56th Annual Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (
ECAC-SIDA) Awards Dinner will take place on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at the RIT Inn & Conference Center in Rochester, N.Y., as five individuals will be honored by the organization for their career achievements.
Temple University's Larry Dougherty, the 2010-11 CoSIDA President, and
Nazareth College’s Joe Seil will receive the Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Awards, while
Skidmore College’s Bill Jones is the recipient of the Pete Nevins Award for Distinguished Achievement.
J.C. DeLass of WYSL Radio in Rochester, N.Y. will receive the ECAC-SIDA Media Award, while
Jessica Lockerby of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been selected as the recipient of the Bill Esposito Award.
Complete biographies and additional information on each of this year’s recipients follows as well as a description of each awards and a link to past recipients.
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The Irving T. Marsh Awards are given annually to a University (Division I or II) and College Division (Division III, NAIA) or Junior College ECAC Sports Information Directors Association member who, in the opinion of the ECAC-SIDA membership and Executive Board, has exhibited excellence in the field of sports information. The awards are presented annually at the spring workshop. First presented in 1966, the awards are named after Irving T. Marsh, the ECAC Service Bureau founder and director until his retirement in 1973.
After honoring one person from 1966 through 1990, the Marsh Award was expanded to its present format in 1991.
See list of previous recipients.
LARRY DOUGHERTY – TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
(IRVING T. MARSH AWARD – UNIVERSITY DIVISION)
Temple University Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Communications Larry Dougherty has been named the recipient of the 2011 Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Award (University Division), as voted by ECAC-SIDA.
Currently the president of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), Dougherty
joins his father, the late Andy Dougherty, as the only father-son combination to win the Marsh Award. Andy, who served as the SID at Saint Joseph's from 1972-81 and is a member of the university's hall of fame, won the Marsh Award in 1982.
Dougherty is in his eighth year at Temple and his fourth year on the CoSIDA Board. At Temple, Dougherty oversees the athletic communications and publications of the institution's 24-sport NCAA Division I program.
Dougherty joined the Owls' staff after serving 15 years in the media relations office at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, the last eight as the school's assistant athletic director for media relations. Prior to SJU, he served as the SID at Nicholls State for one year and as the information director of the East Coast Conference for two years.
Active in regional and national organizations, Dougherty has served as the president of Philly-SIDA (2003-10) and on the ECAC-SIDA Executive Board (2006-08). He chaired the local organizing committee for the 2004 and 2009 ECAC-SIDA Workshops and the 2005 CoSIDA Workshop held in Philadelphia.
Dougherty earned both his bachelor's (1982) and executive MBA (1994) degrees from Saint Joseph's. He has taught courses in sports public relations at Temple University since 2005.
JOE SEIL – NAZARETH COLLEGE
(IRVING T. MARSH AWARD - COLLEGE DIVISION)
Joe Seil, longtime athletic department administrator at Nazareth College, has been recognized as the 2011 recipient of the Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Award (College Division), presented by the Eastern College Athletic Conference-Sports Information Directors of America (ECAC-SIDA).
Seil is in his 25th year as sports information director of Nazareth College, where he also serves as
assistant athletic director. A native of Rochester, Seil was a sports writer for four years before taking over as SID at Nazareth in 1986. As a daily promoter of the college’s 23-team athletic program, Seil has won more than a dozen best-in-the-nation citations for publication excellence from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
He has served on local organizing committees for two ECAC-SIDA conventions (1999 and 2011) and one CoSIDA national workshop (2002) and has been invited to serve as a panelist at several national conventions.
His duties at Nazareth also include serving as chairman of the Sports Hall of Fame committee and as Master of Ceremonies for the annual induction dinner. He also has done play-by-play and color commentary for local radio broadcasts of Nazareth basketball and lacrosse.
Other experience includes working in the press tent at several major golf tournaments hosted at Oak Hill Country Club, including the 1990 U.S. Open, the 1995 Ryder Cup, 2003 PGA Championship and the 2008 Senior PGA Championship.
Seil resides in the Rochester suburb of Brighton with his wife, Judy and sons Tim and Andy.
BILL JONES – SKIDMORE COLLEGE (PETE NEVINS AWARD)
Bill Jones is in his 28th year in the sports information field, including 27 years as the sports information director at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The ECAC-SIDA Executive Board unanimously approved the creation of the Pete Nevins Award for Distinguished Achievement in 2007. That year, Pete Nevins, the long-time sports information director at East Stroudsburg University who was a legend in the industry for over 30 years, passed away.
The award is presented to an individual in recognition of his or her advancement of the field of athletic communications and advocacy for intercollegiate athletics. The winner must have served at least 25 years in the sports information field, and be either a current or former member of ECAC-SIDA. The award will be presented at the discretion of the ECAC-SIDA Executive Board, and only one winner can be named per year.
See list of previous Nevins Award recipients.
Jones received his B.A. in 1983 from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. He started in
the sports information field as a student intern in the Plattsburgh State Sports information office in 1982 and was hired as the Plattsburgh State SID right after graduation in July of 1983.
The move to Skidmore came in 1984, when he was hired as sports information coordinator and special events assistant. After one year, the position became full-time sports information.
Jones is a 27-year member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (ECAC-SIDA) and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
He received ECAC-SIDA’s 2004 Irving T. Marsh College Division Award for his contributions to sports information. A past president of ECAC-SIDA, he served seven years on its board of directors. He was the ECAC-SIDA workshop chairman and host for the 1995, 2001, and 2008 events held in Saratoga Springs.
A member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee since 1992, Jones became a national coordinator in 2001. He served on the CoSIDA Computer Committee from 1987-1991. Jones has been part of 24 CoSIDA and ECAC-SIDA panel and table topic presentations.
In addition to his work at Skidmore, Jones was the media coordinator for the New York State Public High School and Federation Boys Championship Basketball Tournaments from 1987-1992, receiving the 1992 NYSPHSAA Service Award.
Active in the community, Jones is a member of the Division Street Elementary School Shared Decision Making Team and is past president of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization. He served on the Saratoga Youth Hockey Board of Directors and has been involved in both youth hockey and Little League baseball in various volunteer roles, including Little League All-Star coach. He received the 2001 Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau Hometown Hero Award for hosting the ECAC-SIDA workshops.
Jones is a native of Elmira, N.Y. and a 1979 graduate of Elmira Southside High School. He lives in Saratoga Springs with his wife, Vicky and sons, Zack (15) and Ryan (11).
J.C. DeLASS – WYSL RADIO (MEDIA AWARD)
J.C. DeLass has been station manager at WYSL-AM (1040) / 92.1 FM since 2001, supervising all aspects of programming, production, promotion and sales/marketing.
J.C. is also the primary play-by-play announcer for WYSL’s extensive college sports coverage,
broadcasting over 120 local college sporting events each year including all University of Rochester basketball and football games, as well as St. John Fisher College basketball, SUNY Geneseo basketball, Roberts Wesleyan College basketball, the Wendy’s College Classic basketball tournament, Nazareth College lacrosse and more.
J.C. has more than 25 years of radio and television broadcasting experience and has been honored twice as Rochester’s top sports broadcaster (2005 at WYSL and 1990 at WROC-TV).
He is a native of Ontario, N.Y. and a graduate of SUNY Geneseo.
J.C. and his wife, Michele live in Penfield, N.Y. with their two daughters Gabrielle and Karleigh.
Presented annually, the ECAC-SIDA Media Award is bestowed upon an individual in either print or electronic media "for outstanding coverage of eastern intercollegiate athletics." The recipient is selected by the ECAC-SIDA Executive Board.
See list of previous Media Award winners.
JESSICA LOCKERBY – RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSITUTE
(BILL ESPOSITO AWARD)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student Jessica Lockerby has been named the 2011 Bill Esposito Award recipient.
The Bill Esposito Award is presented to a graduating college senior who wishes to pursue a career in athletic communications. The Award is named to honor the memory of one of the true patriarchs of the sports information profession.
See list of previous Esposito Award recipients. Bill Esposito served as the Sports Information Director at St. John's University in New York for 25 years. He served as a past-President of ECAC-SIDA in 1972-73 and was the organization's Irving Marsh Award recipient in 1973. He was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1984. Bill Esposito passed away in 1995.
A senior from Grafton, Vt., Lockerby has worked as a student assistant in the RPI sports information office since the start of the 2008-09 season. Among the wide range of duties she has taken on over the past three years include inputting game statistics, website maintenance, desktop publishing and writing feature stories.
Lockerby dove head-first into learning the Stat Crew statistical program, which allows for live
in-game scoring of sports and the ability to produce live statistics for fans around the globe. She quickly became the primary inputter for a number of RPI teams, including football, field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, ice hockey, baseball and softball.
She has also played a key role in the development and content management of the Athletics website (
www.rpiathletics.com). In addition to inputting rosters and schedules for all 23 varsity sports, she has written student-athlete biographies, cropped action and still photos for individual player pages and helped collaborate and establish the RPI Athletics online Hall of Fame.
An electronic media, arts and communication (EMAC) major, Lockerby has lent her desktop publishing skills in a number of ways, including the development and design of various media guides. In addition, she has also produced game notes for sports, including men’s hockey and football, and has designed a number of championship programs, including for the 2010 NYSCTC Cross Country Championships and the 2010 & 2011 NYSCTC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Lockerby has written a number of feature stories for the athletics’ website and as a reporter for The Polytechnic, the campus’ student newspaper. One of her stories received national attention as her feature on three women’s hockey players’ journeys from Alaska to Troy was highlighted on the NCAA website. Lockerby has also served as a volunteer and primary scorer at several major events throughout the Capital Region, including the 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey East Regionals, the 2010 ECAC Hockey Championships and the 2010 Albany Cup basketball games between Siena and Albany.
In addition to her tenure at Rensselaer, Lockerby has also interned with a number of organizations over the past two years. She served as an intern in Corporate Outreach at ESPN in the summer of 2010, where she helped in a number of capacities, including coordination of volunteer efforts for the company’s employees. Additionally, she spent the summer of 2009 with the State of New York in the Family Planning Advocates office.
Lockerby will graduate in May of 2011 with a bachelor of science in EMAC. She is currently exploring employment opportunities within the athletic communications field.
ABOUT ECAC-SIDA
For more than 55 years, the members of ECAC-SIDA have been instrumental in shaping the course of collegiate athletic communications efforts on the local, regional and national levels. For more information on ECAC-SIDA, visit
www.ecacsida.com.
(Additional information used in this release was provided courtesy of the Temple, Nazareth, Skidmore and Rensselaer Sports Information Offices as well as from ECAC-SIDA Past Presidents Ann King of The Sage Colleges and Adrienne Mullikin of Hood College).