College Sports Information Directors of America

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• Past 25-Year Award Recipients

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Brett Marhanka – Wheaton College, Athletic Communications Director

CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Kevin Juday – Elmhurst University, Director of Sports Information

A musical playbill.

That’s where Brett Marhanka, the Director of Athletic Communications at Wheaton College and the recipient of a 2021 CoSIDA 25-Year Award, first took interest in the profession that he’s worked in for his entire adult life.

In junior high, Marhanka attended his older brother’s Ball State traveling musical group performance and noticed that one performer was listed as a sports information major. A few years later, Marhanka researched both the major and the types of jobs the major could lead to. He learned that the University of Indianapolis had recently added the sports information major.

“I looked at other career paths but the sports information major always interested he me,” said Marhanka. “Without UIndy and [then SID] Joe Gentry, I don’t know what my career path would have been. Joe showed me that this was a job that you could have fun doing. He also introduced me to Jim McGrath at Butler, which led to led my first internship.”

Marhanka’s first athletic media relations job came at Gallaudet University in 1995. Through Gentry, Marhanka built a relationship with Matt Eviston, the then-Gallaudet SID and a fellow UIndy alum. When Eviston departed, he recommended Marhanka for the job.

“A week after I talked with Matt, Gallaudet AD Joe Fritsch was in Indianapolis for a convention. He met with me and at the end of the conversation handed me a book on American Sign Language and told me I should read it,” Marhanka said. “I’m grateful to Joe for taking a chance on me and putting up with some likely inappropriate things I accidentally signed while I was there. At Gallaudet, I learned so much about the profession, and learned more about myself, how to work with coaches, and the importance of building relationships.”

Marhanka left Gallaudet to become the first full-time SID at Anderson University in Indiana. He stayed for two years before he landed at NCAA Division III’s Wheaton, located about 50 minutes west of Chicago.
 

“I knew Wheaton was a great school in athletics, academics and was a top Christian college and that intrigued me,” he said. “The people I get to work with are single-handedly the reason I have stayed 20-plus years. I joined a department with a lot of legendary coaches and some who were on their way to becoming legendary, and along the way I got to call many of them colleagues and friends.”

Wheaton has kept Marhanka busy as the Thunder have won three national championships in women’s soccer, finished as a national runner-up two times and are national powers in a variety of sports including football, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s basketball. In his 20-plus years, Wheaton has appeared in Division III Championships in 19 of its 21 sports. Marhanka has promoted five individual national champions who have nine national titles between them. With Wheaton routinely hosting NCAA Championship events throughout the year, Marhanka has earned the respect of his peers in the process.

"Brett Marhanka is the epitome of what a sports information director should be,” noted CoSIDA Hall of Famer Dave Wrath, Associate Director of Athletics for Media & Alumni Relations at Augustana College. “His focus is on doing his job at all times. I have always admired that about him. He is a tremendous SID and I consider him a great friend. Our profession is better because he is in it.”

Marhanka is a master at promoting Wheaton’s student-athletes. During his tenure, over 70 student-athletes have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. He has promoted one CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, a Josten’s Trophy Winner, a NCAA Woman of the Year finalist and an NCAA Top-VIII award winner, to name a few.

And, one of his proudest accomplishments at Wheaton is the creation of an award to honor the department’s volunteers.

“Volunteers have been the backbone of the Wheaton Athletics Department,” said Marhanka. “The inspiration was a former SID student worker, Steve Kafkas, who later volunteered in multiple roles. When he was going through chemotherapy in 2017, I really wanted to find a small way to recognize Steve and our other volunteers for the time they have given to make Wheaton Athletics better. We created the Wheaton Athletics Service Award and have recognized seven people since it’s creation. Many have been integral to my work for the past 20-plus years.” 

The one person Marhanka failed to promote successfully? Himself.

“Back in the era of paper ballots for Academic All-American, I accidentally typed my name on the ballot instead of the student-athlete I was nominating. I always joke about that, because that Brett Marhanka didn’t win anything, so even early on I struggled to promote myself!” laughed Marhanka.

Marhanka’s colleagues take notice to the amount of time, dedication and work that he puts in.

“Brett helps promote Wheaton athletics in a way that helps craft the narrative that shows who we are and what we represent as a department,” said Julie Davis, Wheaton’s Director of Athletics. “His colleagues will tell you Brett is devoted, professional, always prepared, and goes above and beyond.

“He cares deeply about his work and for our student-athletes. Brett is the glue that holds all of our staff together and it’s great to see him get recognized not just for his years in the profession, but for the quality of his work as well.”

And it all comes back to a musical playbill.