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Past Lifetime Achievement Recipients
Bob Ziadie (King's College) – Lifetime Achievement Award
by Barb Kowal, CoSIDA Director of Professional Development & External Affairs
Bob Ziadie receiving the Patrons Day Award, with wife Debbie.
In May, Bob Ziadie announced his retirement from his post as Director of Sports Information at NCAA Division III King’s College (Wilkes-Barre, Penn.) Ziadie will retire this month from King’s, where he has held the SID position for 26 years, and he was a May addition to the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient list. The Lifetime Achievement recipients will be honored at the CoSIDA Hall of Fame luncheon (June 28) during the 2018 Convention. Ziadie received a CoSIDA 25-Year Award during last year’s convention.
At the time of his retirement announcement, CoSIDA.com posted a feature on Ziadie, written by Matt Bufano of The Citizen’s Voice.
We caught up with Ziadie recently to get his recollections on some of the highlights of his career which were not mentioned in the Bufano feature story.
Q: Can you give us a few highlights of your 26-year career at King’s College?
Ziadie: There have been many moments that stand out and they do because of varying circumstances and emotions. One that rises above all was when our women's volleyball coach Bernie Kachinko lost his father (Bernie Sr.) in a tragic airplane crash on the morning of our 2000 graduation at King's. Bernie is one of my closest friends and I know his entire family very well.
The tragedy made national news and I wound up becoming the media spokesperson for the family. It was a horrific situation but the family truly appreciated my help so they could focus on each other and dealing with their grief in the days heading up to the funeral. When classes at King's resumed in the fall the volleyball team dedicated the season to Bernie's father and wound up winning the Freedom Conference championship in front of a packed crowd in our gym, and also earned the program's first-ever NCAA Division III national tournament berth. It was easily the most emotional event I have ever had to work. The team finished the season with a 34-3 record to cap an incredible season nobody involved will ever forget."
Another great moment came in 2007 when David Morgan won the Division III National Wrestling Tournament title, winning the first national title in King's individual or team history. Our wrestling coach Ned McGinley, who retired after the 2016-17 season after 48 years, was in his 38th year at the time and had many all-Americans but never a national champion. David went on to repeat the following year and graduated as a two-time national champion.
Q: You mention time and time again the importance of working closely with student-athletes and following their professional and personal paths after graduation …
Ziadie: I am grateful to have had the opportunity to watch so many student-athletes pursue their dreams and to have been a small part of their college experience. It has been especially rewarding to have had friendships develop that have continued after their graduation. Many of my favorite days are during alumni games and getting to see many of our former athletes again. It is also very flattering to have student-athletes send me friend requests on Facebook as well because it shows they still think about our times together during their college careers. Building relationships have been the most rewarding part of the job.
Q: You’ve been a mentor to so many, and many have been mentors to you. Are there people in and outside the athletic communications profession that you are thinking about as you get ready for retirement?
Ziadie: I would like to thank all the SIDs I have had a chance to work with over the years as we all exist in large part to help one another do our jobs. Early in my career at King's John Douglas (Widener) and Mike Ferlazzo (Susquehanna) were great mentors. Long-time Franklin & Marshall SID Tom Byrnes was also a big factor in helping SIDs in our region cultivate relationships by hosting get-togethers at F&M to play softball, basketball, and go out to lunch.
Matt Levy at Delaware Valley and I both came into the Middle Atlantic Conference together in 1992-93 so we have been together for the past 26 years. Having him along for the ride has been a lot of fun. Long-time DeSales SID B.J. Spigelmyer has also been a great to work with over the years. Retired University of Scranton SID Kevin Southard has also been a great friend and was always willing to lend a hand when we were understaffed with multiple home events. I was also lucky to have three hard-working assistant SIDs since the position was approved in 2010. Vince Scalzo, Craig Butler, and now Vincent Pecora all did great jobs and made my life easier.