College Sports Information Directors of America

Related stories
• 2017 CoSIDA Special Awards Announced; Awards Presented During June Convention in Orlando
• More 2016-17 Special Awards Honoree Feature Stories
• Past Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award Recipients
• A Habit of Giving TempleUpdate.com

• Larry Dougherty Photo Gallery

---

Larry Dougherty (Temple University), Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award
by Kevin Bonner, University of Pennsylvania Associate Athletic Director, Administration and Strategic Communications

 

The illustrious career of Larry Dougherty, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications at Temple University, has been highlighted by numerous awards: CoSIDA Hall of Fame, ECAC-SIDA Irving T. Marsh and Pete Nevins Awards, and the Atlantic 10 Vetrone Media Award – all for outstanding media relations contributions and commitment.

But this June, another award will rise to the top shelf of Dougherty’s suite in Temple’s athletic communications offices on North Broad Street — the Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award, presented to a CoSIDA member for civic involvement. Kenworthy, a CoSIDA Hall of Famer, served as SID at Gettysburg College and was the first recipient of the award.

“I love to joke about how I am getting awards due to the fact that I am getting old, but I am thankful for each one I have been honored to receive,” Dougherty said. “This award ranks a close second to the ECAC-SIDA Irving T. Marsh Award. That has a special place as my late father, Andy, also received that honor which makes us the only father-son Marsh winners.”
 
The Kenworthy Award is extra special for another reason.
 
“I actually called Bob a few days after I received word of this honor,” Dougherty said. “He is a tremendous man who I crossed paths with earlier in my career — and that is the main reason I am so honored to receive this award. Bob Kenworthy is a true CoSIDA legend and one revered by so many in our profession.”  
 
A selfless man in a selfless profession, Dougherty has been engaged in the community for decades. He has donated blood for cancer patients for the past 20 years and spends three hours on a regular basis donating platelets, plasma and white blood cells to the Red Cross. In total, he has donated blood 150 times in his life. READ: A Habit of Giving
 
“Once I realized how easy it was to help cancer patients, I became totally invested in the program,” he said.

It was this through this connection with the Red Cross that Dougherty became aware of another way he could help others. While bone marrow drives on college campuses have become more commonplace in 2017, this was not the case 20 years ago. Dougherty volunteered to run the bone marrow registry drive while working at Saint Joesph’s University and after five years, was asked to donate. 

“I was fortunate to be a match for a three-year old in South Carolina,” Dougherty said. “After a year the parents contacted me and told me their son was doing really well and they were so grateful. I really never felt happier in my entire life knowing I was able to help this family. Unfortunately a month before we were scheduled to meet, their son relapsed and passed away. I still think about it to this day. I cannot imagine their pain.”   
 
Dougherty has also spent time as a youth baseball coach, leading his squad to the little league championship. His son Connor was the World Series MVP that year with six hits, including three home runs, in eight at-bats. “It still ranks as the best athletic achievement in Dougherty family history,” Dougherty noted.
 
Within the profession, Dougherty was instrumental in the founding of Philly-SIDA, an organization of sports information directors in the Philadelphia area that recognizes the achievements of student-athletes with an Academic All-Area team in each sport that is published in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Dougherty also served as CoSIDA president during the 2010-11 academic year and was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2015.
 
“Philly-SIDA is probably the accomplishment I take the most pride in,” Dougherty said. “It combines the camaraderie of the SID community in the Philadelphia area with honoring student-athletes from all divisions for academic achievement. We have also been able to host three regional conventions and one CoSIDA Convention in the organization's 15 years.”
 
“Larry’s networking with the Philadelphia Inquirer enabled the Academic All-Area team to come to fruition,” Mike Tuberosa, Associate Athletic Director for Communications at Drexel, said. “It gave all of the schools in the Philadelphia area a chance to be recognized for their achievements and also brought a sense of community among the sports information directors in the area.”

“More than anyone I know, Larry loves this business and the people in it,” Mike Mahoney, Director of Athletic Communications at Penn, said. “He is always keeping an eye out for talented young people in the profession, and relishes his opportunities to mentor folks — whether it’s his staff, the students on his campus, or colleagues at other institutions. I have so much respect for his willingness to provide opportunities for people who want to be in the world of college athletics, and especially in the media relations field.”

While the awards are recognition of a job well done and a life well lived, Dougherty is quick to point out that he is just one of many CoSIDA members making their communities a little better each day.

“I think what we do as athletic communications professionals is strive to promote all that is good with our teams, student-athletes and school,” he said. “We are in a service organization to a degree because we serve many different bosses as well as the media. That helps put us in a positive frame of mind. I may be the recipient of this year's award, but so many of my colleagues around the country are serving their communities. I think that is in our nature, which is a good thing.”

It certainly is, Larry.





Learn more about the 2017 CoSIDA Convention | Register Now