Note: This is the 14th article in the CoSIDA Special Awards feature series which will highlight all 2013 Special Award recipients. All recipients will be honored at the
CoSIDA Convention (June 12-15) in conjunction with the NACDA and Affiliates Convention at Orlando's Marriott World Center.
See the full list of recipients and features schedule.
by Ann King, The Sage Colleges Sports Information Director
CoSIDA Special Awards Committee
Dick Baker of the
Springfield Republican said of Ken Cerino, “If a college building were ever to be named after Ken Cerino, it could be called the “Cerino Campus Center for Cultivating Cheerfulness.”
For those of you who have been fortunate to work with and know
Ken Cerino of Western New England University, it’s a recurring theme when one talks about him. He is never not ‘happy’ and is always ready with a smart and witty quip. That gift is one of the traits that make him so special and dear to so many different people he has touched in his career as well as an obvious choice for the 2013 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Now in his 13th year as a member of the Western New England University staff, the 2012-2013 academic year marks the first time Cerino isn’t workings as a sports information director. He transitioned to a new position as the Athletic Publications Coordinator for the Golden Bears after spending 38 years working as a college sports publicist, including the last 12 as the director of athletic communications at Western New England.
Baker penned a wonderful story that ran in the
Springfield Republican when Cerino stepped away from his role as SID at Western New England University last summer, writing “While buildings don’t usually get renamed without sizable checks from the family of the honored, the foundation for all that is good about Division III college athletics has already been laid in these parts by the likable 60-year-old athletic communications director.”
Baker continued, “No bricks and mortar will be needed to remember Ken Cerino – the ultimate people person. For over a quarter century, Cerino has served both Springfield College (14 years) and Western New England University (12) not only as the main communicator to the print and broadcast media, but as a developer of people with the students, a friendly and soothing liaison for the coaches, and a meticulous organizer of an endless maze of events. But now he feels it’s time to step down. No, he won’t go away completely – he’s cutting his duties at WNE down to a 10-month position as athletic publication coordinator – but he is retiring from his more familiar role.”
Cerino was inducted in the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1996, while serving as the SID at Springfield College. During his tenure at Springfield College, he was also named the recipient of CoSIDA Warren Berg Award for outstanding achievement in sports information in 1992/ That was the same year he received the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) "Irving T. Marsh Award" for outstanding contributions and support of the ECAC Service Bureau.
A fixture in the profession for nearly 40 years, Cerino served as the sports information director at Springfield College for 14 years (1986-2000). He was also the SID at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1979-86),and was the first SID for women's athletics at Iowa State University (1977-79) before serving at Siena College (1974-77).
He has also served as a member of the CoSIDA Board of Directors, a role he held for a five-year period from 1988-93. Cerino also is a past president of the ECAC Sports Information Directors Association, holding that role in the 1982-83 academic year.
In his feature on Cerino, Baker also penned that “Ken is known for his puns, and the visiting-team roster was turned into quick fodder, particularly at basketball games where he had a few minutes to breathe – unlike football, where the rapidly changing statistics and player identification undermines any hope of frivolity.”
Baker noted, “At one women’s basketball game, Ken and I teamed up to nickname former WNE softball and basketball star Ashley Koch ‘The Mayor’ after former New York mayor Ed Koch. During that contest, we convinced the WNE student newspaper reporter she was Mayor Koch’s daughter, and acted somewhat disgusted and astonished he didn’t know that already. We only fessed up to our gag seconds before he was about to interview her. But the ‘Mayor’ stayed the ‘Mayor,’ and she actually seemed to like the tag.”
And that’s Ken Cerino – fun to be around, serious when he had to be, always willing to help. He’s old school, from the days when communication was not limited to a text message or a tweet.
He always returned phone calls, and his voice never leaked any discontent. If he had lived in Noah’s time, he would have said, “Don’t worry, Noah, we’ll just put down the tarp.”
Perhaps this perpetual positive attitude stems from overcoming an early baseball disappointment. He was cut from the freshman team at Arizona State University, but gratefully ended up covering the Sun Devils for the
ASU Daily. Coach Bobby Winkles allowed him to work out with the varsity prior to games, and then he’d go back to the office afterward to write the story. When the Western New England baseball team visited Arizona two years ago, Cerino visited hooked up with several former acquaintances, including former ASU standout Clint Myers who now serves as the Sun Devils’ softball coach.
In quite a change of climate, Cerino was next a student assistant at Saint Bonaventure University where he wrote his undergraduate thesis on Pittsburgh Pirate great Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash New Year’s Eve of Cerino’s junior year. He has the opportunity to interview the late Hall of Fame coach John Wooden when the Bonnies played UCLA.
From there, Cerino became sports information director at Siena College from 1974-77, where public
relations director Joe Orzechowski hired him at the annual salary of $7,500 even though he wasn’t the first choice. It was an exciting three years with Siena opening the Alumni Recreation Center and moving from Division II to Division I in basketball.
Tony Rossi, Siena’s head baseball coach of 44 seasons, said of Cerino, “I guess we can start by saying that Ken was the first Sports Information Director to really organize that part of the department at Siena College.
“Along with his organization, he was the only Director, who really spread himself around to cater to all sports. He was equally versed and comfortable about speaking on all of our sports," Rossi added. Ken was very professional, while still being able to communicate and socialize at the coaches’ level. It was a lot of fun to be around him and being an athlete himself, he was able to understand the needs of both the coaches and student-athletes. He was always promoting the student-athlete in any endeavor, whether it be athletic or academic.”
Rossi continued, “He is a true friend, who even though he left Siena College many years ago, he still communicates with me, and when passing through this area always stops in. Ken, I believe, makes friends for a lifetime. He's a real genuine person and I personally have really cherished my relationship with him over the years. A great person!”
After departing Siena, it was off to Iowa State as the first women’s sports information director (1977-79), followed by a long stint at MIT (1979-86) where he had an opportunity to work the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as an assistant press venue chief covering fencing and women’s volleyball.
His traveling days were over when he joined Springfield College in 1986. Football coach Mike DeLong had him over for dinner on his first day. “Those are things you never forget,” Cerino said. His biggest thrill at SC was the men’s basketball team playing the USSR-Select Team on Nov. 19, 1991.
“We played a great game despite losing 92-86 in overtime. It was the college debut of Hassan Robinson, who became both a hoops and baseball standout for SC,” Cerino said.
He also supervised the stat crew at the 1986 Tip-Off Classic between North Carolina State and Navy at what was then the Springfield Civic Center. It was the first official game using the 3-point field goal. N.C. State forward Bennie Bolton made the first trey just under three minutes in. Springfield native Vinny Del Negro scored 19 points in the Wolfpack’s 86-84 win while Hall of Famer David Robinson led Navy with 36 points.
“I had the pleasure of working with Ken Cerino, one of the true professionals in the worlds of sports information,” said DeLong. “He was always positive and a pleasure to work with on the field. He did a great job working for the student athletes and coaches while at Springfield. He was a tireless worker for the benefit of the College. On a personal note he made me look good, which was quite a task! Ken is more than deserving of CoSIDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations Ken!”
On May 22, 2012 Cerino worked his last WNE event, a 2-0 loss to Wheaton in the NCAA Division III baseball championship at Mansfield, Connecticut.
Dr. Michael Theulen, Director of Athletics and Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Western New England University said of Ken, “I have had the privilege of having Ken as a friend and a co-worker for nearly 30 years. He is without peer as an SID based upon his talent, passion, experience, and knowledge. Simply put, Ken is VERY worthy of the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award. As great a professional as he is, he is even a better person. His commitment to student-athletes and their endeavors is truly amazing.”
“Ken has always had a ‘big picture’ mentality,” added Theulen. “He is a highly organized individual who knows his craft inside and out. He strongly supports and endorses the student-athlete label and believes strongly in the NCAA Division III philosophy. His experience has given him perspective that has helped to elevate the Western New England University Athletics Program, and the University itself, to unprecedented heights. The members of our Athletic Family are very proud of Ken and thank him for ALL that he has done and will continue to do for us.”
A native of both Maywood, New Jersey, New Jersey and Wappingers Falls, New York, Cerino is a 1974 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. He and his wife Kelly reside in Enfield, Connecticut.