College Sports Information Directors of America

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• 2019 Special Awards Annoucements and Features
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• Past Rising Star Award Recipients
• Endicott College’s Shawn Medeiros Recognized As CoSIDA’s 2019 Rising Star Award Recipient (College Division) (ecgulls.com)

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Shawn Medeiros – Endicott College, Sports Information Director
2019 CoSIDA Rising Star - College Division

by Josh Cornwall, Agnes Scott College Coordinator for Athletic Communications & Game Management

It’s a Sunday afternoon in May as two rival baseball programs — separated by campuses two miles apart — battle in a grudge match to send one of them to the conference championship series. The sun peeks through the clouds from the north side of the field, shining just enough light to suddenly brighten the press box, raised and centered behind home plate.

Inside, Endicott College’s Shawn Medeiros carefully balances his attention between echoing inning-ending statistics to the student worker running public announcements and ensuring the play-by-play announcer stays on topic, relatively.

Two knocks precede a friend opening the door and announcing himself before plopping down in the open seat next to Medeiros in the middle of the pressbox at Endicott’s North Field.

Medeiros looks up from his StatCrew computer and offers a quick welcome as a crack of the bat snaps his attention back to his duties. Knowing the weight of a decision on the mind of his friend and peer, he switches hats at opportune moments to offer quick wit and sound wisdom.

That’s Shawn, recipient of CoSIDA’s 2019 Rising Star Award. The two Rising Star awards, for university and college divisions, are given during CoSIDA’s June convention in Orlando. This year, Medeiros is recognized as the top college division athletic communications professional with under 10 years of experience.
 

Medeiros is a New Englander through and through. Focused, fair and willing to help others at the drop of a hat.

The Fall River, Massachusetts native jumped into the field of sports information with two feet after graduating from Bridgewater State (Mass.) in 2008, quickly winding up in Castleton, Vermont, as a sports information graduate assistant under then-SID Jeff Weld.

Castleton, known for its collection of all-star graduate alumni, was the perfect place for Medeiros to get his feet wet. He served as the primary contact for five sports, including a blossoming women’s ice hockey program.

Following a two-year stay in rural Vermont, Medeiros returned to his home state for a quick stop at Division II Stonehill College before being offered his first chance at leading an office. That was at Wheaton College (Mass.) for a position in transition.

Longtime Wheaton athletic director John Sutyak needed someone in a hurry after being left in a bind toward the end of the fall season.

"I am very thankful of the time we had with Shawn at Wheaton,” Sutyak noted. “He stepped in to the office at a difficult time, mid-year, during the week we were hosting NCAA women's soccer first and second round games in addition to the start of basketball season. However, he handled that situation like a seasoned professional and never skipped a beat during his tenure at Wheaton."

At Wheaton, Medeiros consistently put his student-athletes in front of a grander audience than one just limited to the Norton, Massachusetts local area. During his three-year stay, Medeiros concocted a creative formula to not only highlight the accomplishments of his student-athletes on the field, but to also celebrate their victories off of it.

This is where he would make his mark.

"Shawn's ability to stay calm and collected certainly is crucial in this business, especially where there are a number of issues and projects he needs to consistently juggle. I think his time at Wheaton was valuable to him. He was in charge of his area for the first time in his career, and he was doing it solo in our athletics communications office,” Sutyak added. “His output was always great, he always remained positive, and he made a significant impact on the work we do. It was a privilege to work with him and watch him grow at Wheaton and now at Endicott.”

In the summer following the 2014-15 academic year, Medeiros found himself looking into a new opportunity at Endicott. The beautiful campus, nestled into a rocky Atlantic coastline in Beverly, on Boston’s north shore, had an athletic program with a growing national footprint at the Division III level — and Medeiros wanted in.

At Endicott, Medeiros constantly worked to fine tune the process. The culmination of this process was the release of a unique website in 2016 — with an assist from predecessor Rob Palardy — which from first glance shows the viewer the emphasis Endicott places on the idea of developing the whole person.

Not just a student. Not just an athlete. It’s a focus on promoting a combination of both, with importance placed on citizenship and career development.

“Under Shawn’s leadership as the Endicott director of sports information, he and his team have elevated the success of Endicott athletics and its student-athletes exponentially,” noted Endicott Director of Athletics Brian Wylie.

“The plan that he has developed over the last four years is one that is centered on not only capturing the exploits and achievements of our programs and individuals, but is centered on his ability to capture all of the other areas that are central to a student-athletes Division III experience.”

Jodi Kenyon wears many hats at Endicott, including serving as Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator. It is Shawn’s help, however, with the Gulls women’s soccer program where Kenyon serves as head coach, where she has felt his impact the most.

“Shawn has been instrumental in elevating the social media presence of Endicott College Athletics while highlighting and exposing the college’s uniqueness in very innovative ways. He is passionate about his profession well beyond statistics, wins and losses. Shawn truly cares about promoting the student-athlete, their experiences and successes.”

The recognition of Medeiros’ approach grew with each feature released, each emotional response crafted.

Away from his campus, the eight-year vet Medeiros has become a mainstay presenter at the annual CoSIDA Convention over the last few years, working alongside a cast of star-studded peers in front of packed rooms. The breakout session titled “Capitalizing on Big Moments” at the 2017 convention was made for what Medeiros was doing at Endicott, and the interest in the topic reflected as such.

Medeiros is no stranger to the award scene either, having picked up previous honors from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and the CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest.

These honors, while nice, were never the goal, however. They are just the result of hard work and relentless commitment paying off after years of service.

“It’s a great honor for Shawn that CoSIDA recognizes his great work and creativity through the Rising Star Award, and this work also is reflected in several other awards he’s received along the way,” added Wylie.

“These awards truly represent and recognize Shawn’s passion for sharing the stories of athletically gifted young men and women through the Division III philosophy of ‘student’ first and ‘athlete’ second. Also, Shawn has developed a great gift of developing and mentoring students in the sports information field and has helped place these individuals at colleges and universities, advancing the profession of sports information.”

Emily Machado, athletics communications coordinator at Wentworth Institute of Technology (Mass.), reinforced Medeiros impact on the profession beyond his stead.

“Shawn brings that energy and dedication to work with him every single day at Endicott. He never settles for mediocrity. His constant drive for innovation is unprecedented, along with his creativity, which has shaped a culture at Endicott that is truly unique and special,” Machado said. “He’s always first to the punch in creating new ideas to showcase athlete success at Endicott, and continues to inspire his peers, thinking, ‘Dang! Why didn’t I think of that!?”

“An influencer, mentor, and friend, Shawn’s distinction for this award cannot be overstated,” Machado added.

Yeah. That’s Shawn, the CoSIDA college division Rising Star.