College Sports Information Directors of America

25-Year Award
Presented to College Sports Communicators members who have completed 25 years in the athletics communications profession. Vetted and voted on by the Special Awards Committee. 

Trevor Parks — Youngstown State University Associate Athletics Director/Director of Athletics Communications

Trevor Parks is in his 24th year as the associate athletics director/ director of athletics communications at Youngstown State University. Parks manages all aspects of media relations for YSU's 21 athletic programs.

He oversees a talented staff while directly handling media relations duties for the football team and for the men’s and women’s track and field and tennis programs and women's lacrosse team.

Parks helps coordinate the department's Watch ESPN broadcasts and assists with the day-to-day social media efforts for Penguins Athletics. He updates and provides general maintenance on YSUsports.com. He also assisted in the redesign of the athletic department website, most recently in July 2016.

Parks has accumulated several honors from CSC (CoSIDA), including Youngstown State football program voted Division I-AA/FCS Best in the Nation (2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008) in the former annual publications contest.

Prior to joining the YSU staff in 2000, he spent a year as women's sports information director at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He served a two-year internship with the Nebraska sports information office from 1997-99, managing media relations for the Huskers’  baseball and women's rifle teams while assisting all other varsity sports.

Parks earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1996. He spent three years as a reporter and editor for the school newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan.

Trevor and his wife, Pennie, reside in Austintown with their dog, Rylee.

Bob Hannon, Youngstown State Football play-by-play announcer: "Trevor is a pleasure to work with. He is a pro and is always proactive in getting me what I need for my broadcasts well in advance of gameday. He is always providing me with those nuggets of information about our football players that don’t show up in game notes, but are of interest to our listeners. Most of all, he loves Youngstown State and his commitment to the Penguins is inspiring."

Jamie Hall, Youngstown State Assistant Director of Athletics Communications, CSC 25-Year Award (2023): "For 25 years, Trevor and I have worked together, and for 25 years he has been a true leader for not just our athletics communications office, but our entire athletics department as well. He leads by example and is willing to do whatever it takes to make our department the best it can be. Trevor appreciates and is grateful for the hard work his staff puts in on a daily basis, and he goes to bat for them. He's the type of person you want to work for. Trevor is always willing to help people professionally and personally. Most importantly, Trevor has been a great friend for 25 years."

John Vogel, Youngstown State University Assistant Director of Athletics Communications: "Trevor has spent almost his entire career leading our office and has instilled a culture of working hard to get the job done right, rolling with the punches and embracing the fun of the grind. He has the uncanny ability to never let us know when he’s having a tough day, and in this profession those certainly exist. That kind of consistency makes coming into the office each morning much easier after the long nights at an event or in front of a laptop. While many of our full-time staff have stayed together for many years, we have had numerous talented students come through our office who have gone on to enjoy successful careers in and out of sports. I would bet most if not all of them would look back fondly on their time with Trevor as their boss and say that he positively impacted their professional development, and I’m not sure there could be a greater testament to his 25-year legacy."

Parks reflecting on his career to date…
"I’ve truly enjoyed being a sports communications professional and can’t believe I’ve spent more than half my life working in collegiate athletics. The people I’ve been able to surround myself with from day one have made me a better person and professional. I’ve learned a lot through the years and try to keep learning even now. I’ve tried to work hard to make an impact on as many people as I could, and I get tremendous satisfaction seeing them become successful."

Tips for younger professionals…
"Do your very best. Whether it’s keeping stats, editing a video, updating game notes or the athletics website or anything really, put your top effort into it and that’s all you can do. The world of Athletics Communications never stops so if you feel one day wasn’t great, regroup and give all you can give the next day or the next event."