College Sports Information Directors of America

Lifetime Achievement Award
Presented to individuals who have served at least 25 years in the athletics communications profession (as of July 2025) who are retiring or leaving the profession. Years of service vetted by the Special Awards Committee. 

Larry Happel – Central College (retired)
Note: Happel has retired from Central College, and is working part-time as Central's athletics senior editor.


By Blake Timm, Pacific University (OR) Associate Director of Communications/CSC Special Awards Committee Vice-Chair

They say that the only constant in life is change. In Pella, Iowa, the constant has been the never-changing, always-reliable Larry Happel.

The athletic communications director at Central College for 45 years, beginning as a student at Central, Happel retired from his full-time position in 2024 and has transitioned to a part-time role as athletics senior editor.

Now in his 46th year in the athletic department at Central, Happel has surpassed former Iowa State sports information director and CSC Hall of Famer Larry Burrell as the longest-tenured college sports information director in the history of the state of Iowa.

A 2010 CSC Hall of Famer, Happel received the Warren Berg Award in 2006 and a 25-Year Award in 2004. He is one of an exclusive group of CSC members to have received four of the organization’s special awards. 

Happel’s resume includes 22 CSC Publication Contest (now Creative & Digital Design Contest) awards, 18 Fred Stabley, Sr., Writing Contest awards, along with two writing awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). His story on former homeless youth and Central wrestler Jaime Miranda won Story of the Year in the 2017 Stabley Writing Contest.

In addition to his sports information director duties, Happel served two stints, totaling 15 years, as Central College’s communications director.  

Happel also found time to serve the profession at the national level, serving three years on the CSC Board of Directors and three years on the former College Division Management Advisory Committee. He has served on CSC’s Writing Contest, Membership Services and former Allied Organizations committees and continues to be a member on the Special Awards Committee. Happel also spent six years on the Division III Sports Information Directors Association (D3SIDA) Board of Directors, including two years as president.

In 2019, Central named the national champions trophy case inside the P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium in Happel's honor. He received the college’s Presidential Service Standard Award for Energy in 2009.

In the community, Happel is a member of Pella’s Second Reformed Church, where he has served as deacon, elder and first vice president of the consistory. He is a past board member of the Pella CROP Walk and Habitat for Humanity of Marion County and was the adviser for Habitat’s campus chapter at Central for 14 years.


 

Sunny Eighmy, Central College Vice President for Advancement, former Student Worker for Larry Happel: "Larry is one of the most genuine humans on the planet. His love of the game, devotion to student-athletes, attention to detail, capacity to host a statistical library in his mind, and his ability to build rapport with coaches and media are unmatched. Throughout his career, Larry expected excellence in himself and also set the bar high for the student employees and professional colleagues around him who are fiercely loyal to him today.

He entertained with his wit and crafted writing that made you feel like you didn’t miss a second. He helped define the profession and mentored many along the way. A humble spirit, he never wanted to draw attention to himself, but rather to the college and its successes and storied traditions. His work ethic often left him last to leave and lock P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium, perhaps more than the night security guard. It’s a blessing to know Larry and we couldn’t be happier for him as he receives the CSC Lifetime Achievement Award."

Dave Wrath, retired Augustana College Associate Director of Communications, CSC Hall of Fame (2003), CSC Warren Berg Award (2000), CSC Lester Jordan Award (2004), CSC Lifetime Achievement Award (2022), CSC 25-Year Award (2007): "Larry Happel is the consummate professional and the epitome of what a sports information director should be. You could always count on Larry, and I mean always. He never took a day off from doing his job, representing his school and offering the best service possible to anyone who needed it. We all earned from his grace, dedication and professionalism. He was also a tremendous friend and still is to this day."

Dave Blanchard, retired Luther College Sports Information Director, CSC Lifetime Achievement Award (2023), CSC 25-Year Award (2018): "I have the privilege of working with Larry throughout my 30-year career at Luther. Even though Larry and I are close to the same age, he was already a seasoned veteran in the business when I began my first full-time SID job at Luther at age 32 in 1982. During those 30 years, he was not only a mentor in the early years, he was my go-to guy when I had no idea how to score a never-seen-before play. We battled the early years of Stat Crew, video streaming and walk-up music together. He taught me the importance of hometown news releases, and he may be the only SID who has continued this practice despite all of the information that is available on the athletics website.

He is the ultimate professional who has to make transitions, from calling the sports desk after athletic contests on a phone to learning how to post on social media. There is a reason he is in the CSC Hall of Fame. He has been a pillar of the profession not only at the Division III level, but at all levels. I have been forever grateful not only for his leadership but more for his friendship in this crazy world we call sports information."



Happel on what kept him in the athletic communications profession for 45 years…
"I’ve often said that I’ve stayed because I never found one that I liked better. In truth, staying in one place was not my goal, but there were some life circumstances that kept me at Central, and perhaps it was where I was meant to be. Like many in our profession, I made too many personal sacrifices, missed too many family activities and worked too many hours, yet there was seldom a time when I looked back at the clock or didn’t enjoy what I was doing. And while the financial compensation was relatively meager, the experiences and relationship were richly rewarding."

On what has made Central a special place…
"Championships are fun and Central has won more than its share, but as most would say, it’s the relationships that you treasure the most. When you walk to your seat with a friend who invited you to see your St. Louis Cardinals play in Minnesota after retiring last summer, and you find more than 60 former Central softball players from the last four decades who had driven or flown in from across the country to surprise you, then, yeah, I think that shows Central is a special place."