< Previous18 | Robles: Those were all considerations that our agency helped with. I’m Hispanic and my wife is Asian, so we felt like between what we learned from our training and with our experiences, that’d we be fine. What was the best moment through the adoption process? Arner: We continued to do sibling visits all through the foster process, and I really loved those times together. I have enjoyed watching his brothers and sisters grow up as well. We’ve stayed in touch with them and his oldest brother has gone on family vacations with us, to the point where my nieces and nephews call him their cousin as well. Davis: For Nolan, it was when we finally were able to bring him home when the adoption was finalized six weeks after he was born. For Caroline, we were able to be in the delivery room and I was even able to cut the cord. Jenkins: That’s a tough question. As much as we like to romanticize adoption, all the moments are tragic. The moment when a judge officially terminated the rights of the kids’ biological mother, tragic. The moment when another judge officially declared us a family, bittersweet. Robles: Undoubtedly, it was the day we finalized the adoption in court. It had been more than two years and we always feared something would happen that would derail the whole thing. Our social worker and others were confident that things were going to work out, but I still tried to learn as much about the process as I could to quiet my fears. When we signed the adoption papers and the judge finalized everything, it was an indescribable moment. And, yeah, I shed a few tears through it all. How did a career in athletics affect your adoption and having children? Arner: I genuinely believe my being in athletics brought me to adoption. And I do think that having your children around your job is a great perk of the industry. Athletics has always embraced family involvement. I’m not sure it’s the same in every profession, but because of the hours we work your kids are always around. Everyone knows everyone’s family, and I love that. Cleve has Jenkins: We had two boys already, so we were leaning toward a girl. While we did have a preference, it was flexible. We learned early on in the process that honesty is the most important part. Being honest with the system, your spouse, and yourself is crucial. Only a few days after getting licensed, we received a call: “We have a sibling set: female 6 months, male 3 years, Black, adoption likely.” Robles: Our preference was for a girl between 5-7 years old but in the end, we ended up with a boy who had just turned four. In reality, we knew we just wanted the right child, regardless of who it was, and that’s Ivan because he fits right in with us. In the beginning, did you give thought to whether or not a child of a different race than your own would present unique challenges? Arner: I think I was pretty naïve to this concept, and maybe a little selfish. I didn’t realize how much Cleve would have to explain having a White mother. Kids in his classes were always so confused when I would show up for events, and Cleve was very sensitive to looking different. He had a classmate tell him he wasn’t wanted because he was adopted. He also has grown up in a White family (my family), and as much as I didn’t want him feeling different from the rest of us, I know he does. Davis: Our adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, did a fantastic job during the training process to prepare us on becoming a transracial family. This opened my eyes on what it truly meant welcoming a child of color into our family. We wanted to make sure our children would be in a diverse environment and to do that we needed to make some changes in our lives. Over time, we have become very active in social justice efforts in our community, especially surrounding issues of racial equity. Transracial adoption is an issue that deserves much time and attention and we are grateful to the many people of color and adult adoptees who have helped guide our learning. Jenkins: During the class, interracial adoption was covered at length. So yes, plenty of thought went it to whether or not there would be challenges. Fostered and adopted children struggle with identity as a rule, so the reality of not even looking like your adoptive family is another layer to consider. Cassie Arner first considered adoption after getting to know the stories of many of her student-athletes who had been fostered. Mike Robles had always told his staff that family comes first. In their late 40s, he and his wife embraced that by adopting.CoSIDA 360 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 19 What unique things have you done to integrate your son/daughter’s race and heritage background into your lives? Arner: I think the biggest thing that matters the most to my son is staying connected to his biological siblings. He wants them to be as important to me as my biological family is to me. I was also told early on by one of our football coaches at the time that if you want to be a good mom to a Black son, always invest in his hair and shoes. Jenkins: This is an interesting topic that I’ve thought about a lot, and I’m still not quite sure I have a good answer. When we were preparing for foster/adoption, we came across plenty of articles and blogs about interracial adoption. The consensus encouraged it but stressed not losing their culture. But what does that mean, exactly, when adopting a difference race in America? There are so many cultures here. We have been doing this for almost 10 years and they are simply a part of our family. Have you had any discussions with your child about race over the last few months in light of what is happening in our country? Arner: Absolutely, yes. I’ve tried to do more listening than talking. Of course, he’s a teenage boy, so you have to do a lot of prodding to get him to open up, but I’ve been very thankful to have some very frank conversations with him. He turned 16 this summer, so as you can imagine I have a new level of fear when he leaves the house on his own. There is a fine line between having conversations that instill a healthy amount of caution, but at the same time does not scare him and make him more apprehensive. Davis: We did, and it was unbelievable to see how inspired my son was. We attended local Black Lives Matter marches around St. Louis and following one of the marches, Nolan (8 years old) wanted to say something to the crowd in the megaphone. He said, “Stop hurting Black people!” and everyone cheered. On the way home he said he wanted to organize a children’s Black Lives Matter march in our hometown. We helped him get the word out and there were over 700 people that showed up as the kids led the march (Details Caroline was 4 years old when we talked with her about George Floyd. We explained what happened to him and others that have died at the hands of police. She responded with “Like me?”, and it just really puts it into perspective how much work we must do as a country. Jenkins: My kids are 13, 13, 11, and 10. But we don’t shy away from the truth, so they have seen the videos and I do so without commentary. It has been interesting to hear thoughts from children. We have two White kids and two Black children. We tell them all the same thing in regard to the police. And it was the same thing I was taught. “Don’t run. Don’t fight. Don’t argue. Be respectful. If you feel like you’re being mistreated, know that we’ll deal with it later.” So, when they watch some of the videos through that lens, they see clearly why we say that. Robles: Ivan’s asked a lot of questions, particularly when the news is on and the innocence of a child comes through. He can’t always understand why what’s happening is happening. We had special relationships with all my co-workers. He’s probably become more independent because of my busy schedule. While I was at Auburn, there were about five families who fostered and adopted from foster care, including our athletic director at the time Jay Jacobs. There was a special bond with all those families. Davis: I think as always with people in our profession the travel and being away from my family can be a challenge. I travel a lot in the fall for our Valley fall championships and I’m also on the road a ton during our men’s and women’s basketball seasons helping with our television productions. It puts added stress on my wife, since she also works, so we try to find the right balance to handle all those challenges. Jenkins: I don’t know if it’s necessarily my career, or more just having an athletics mindset in general, but having a team concept is crucial. My wife and I were both team-sport athletes, so we always knew we were in it together and striving for the same goal. Our son had plenty of trauma during his transition, so there were struggles for three hard years. Three years in the trenches either destroys your marriage or strengthens it, and we came out of it much stronger. Robles: I felt that having a family was something I was missing because I was living the typical SID life and was constantly chasing the next event or press release, and that had been my life for more than 25 years. I always told my staff that family comes first and I needed to fully embrace that myself. I let my career take advantage of me and I was determined to change that. I was able to find a different opportunity in the same town and that was a blessing. I went from an NCAA Division I school to a community college governing office and was able to stay in the same field, expand my skills and transition to a schedule that would be much more open to me coaching the baseball and soccer teams, not miss as many school events and build much more quality family time. Ivan was the primary reason I switched jobs after 21 years and it’s been wonderful. What are the unexpected benefits of adopting a child of a different race? Arner: Perspective and experiences. As a White person, I can never know the true impact of racial tension and racism, but it’s incredibly painful to watch your son experience it. I’ve been exposed to situations I would have never found myself in otherwise. I feel very blessed to have had my mind opened. Davis: It caused me to open my eyes. I grew up with the colorblind mentality in a very White suburb of Indianapolis. I didn’t have many interactions with people of color until college. Educating myself and close family and friends about race became important to me to ensure my children would be surrounded by people that would care for and embrace their differences. Both our children were adopted locally here in St. Louis and we’re fortunate to have relationships with their birth mothers. Both situations are different, and the level of openness varies between the two, but we wanted to ensure both our children would know them. Jenkins: I’m not sure. I guess it’s easy to see that we’ve adopted, so people think we’re interesting right off the bat. We’ve become directly aware of the struggle of dealing with Black hair, which is an issue so prominent that an animated short film (Hair Love) on the subject won an Academy Award last year.20 | try to answer honestly but in an unalarming way because Ivan does get scared, particularly with things he doesn’t understand. But he’s had friends of many races and we live in a very diverse neighborhood, so that’s been helpful as a starting block. What advice would you give to others about adopting a child of a different race? Arner: I would say that you cannot assume you know what they are going through. I thought parenting was parenting and if you used common sense, you would make great decisions every time. I had to stop thinking of his childhood experience in the way I thought about mine. I needed to be educated and surround myself with other African American families so I could understand challenges specific to race differences. I asked a lot of questions, respectfully. Davis: Educate yourself and make sure you’re prepared to become a transracial family. Do the work necessary to provide your child an environment where they feel welcome in their skin. This may mean moving to a more diverse area, enrolling your child in a certain school, having hard conversations with family, or even, sometimes, cutting people out of your life who refuse to learn and understand. Learn, learn, and learn some more from people of the same race as your child, but don’t put the work on them. Embrace your child’s biological background. Gather books and resources about their background and make them proud of it. Jenkins: The same advice I would give anyone considering any sort of foster/adoption: Be honest and don’t have unrealistic expectations. We’ve all seen adoption videos with happy tears and dramatic music and slow-motion embraces, but that’s not reality. It’s very difficult, and tragic, and beautiful…all of it. If you go into it thinking that it’s going to be constantly gratifying and wonderful, you’ll be disappointed. It IS, in fact, gratifying and wonderful…but not always. Robles: Part of our requirements was meeting with another couple who had adopted so that we could ask questions and learn about their experience. We were matched with people that had similar goals to us, were about our age, etc. It was very helpful for us and I think would be valuable if we were adopting a child of a different race. Has your son/daughter been able to take part in some of the benefits of having a parent who works in sports? Arner: One time at Houston, we were in my office. Cleve, six years-old at the time, was doing homework or reading, and I ran down to football dinner to get someone on the radio. I came back and Cleve was gone. I sat down at my desk for a minute and heard his voice through the wall. The men’s basketball offices were in the adjacent suite and I found Cleve sitting in Coach James Dickey’s office eating fruit snacks and drinking milk on Coach’s couch while he made recruiting calls. Also that same year, after a football game as we were doing postgame notes in the press box and Cleve comes waltzing in. He had told the elevator operator that his mom “owned” the stadium. Davis: Funny thing is…neither of my kids are really into sports! Nolan is obsessed with trains and building things and Caroline is into becoming a doctor and princesses. They do enjoy attending Arch Madness every year since they get the backstage access and see what goes on behind the scenes. Doesn’t hurt they get to watch the games in a suite with plenty of popcorn, pretzels and mac and cheese! Jenkins: I wouldn’t call them great stories, but occasionally they’ve worked a camera or a scoreboard when I was desperate. They know their way around an NAIA press box! Robles: I was working a televised football game not long after Ivan joined our family and was on the field postgame arranging an interview. I called my wife to make sure Ivan was watching and as it was taking place, I casually walked back and forth behind the interview. My wife said Ivan yelled, “Daddy!!” My goal is to always stay out of the camera’s view, but I made an exception. But, overall, I think working in sports is great because Ivan loves sports and I’ve been able to take him to practices, events, and meet some coaches and student-athletes. And, of course, the occasional swag is always a good thing. Tell us about a unique and wonderful characteristic your son/daughter has that you don’t which has taught you more about yourself. Arner: My son has an incredible smile and infectious laugh. I’m not sure how to explain his charm, but even people that have been challenged by Cleve (teachers, coaches, etc.) can’t help but love him. He’s so very smart. I’m in awe of his strength and very proud of the young man he has become. Jenkins: My adopted son (13) interprets the world uniquely. I assume it was a skill he acquired when constantly surrounded by different adults in his early years. His life was very unstable, so he had to learn how to read people way earlier than he should have. Is this person on my side? Is this person going to hurt me or my mom? What are these people talking about? He can pick up on adult conversations way better than my other care-free children. I don’t know what that has taught me about myself, other than maybe I need to be more aware of what I’m saying around him. He knows when we’re speaking in code or trying to be intentionally vague. My adopted daughter (10) is very creative and artistic, which is a skill neither my wife nor I possess. She can draw and design and create, and we’ve learned to appreciate that process. She’s also very stubborn and independent, which has taught us to lean into the positives of seemingly negative characteristics. We love that she’ll never get pushed around or talked into doing something stupid. Robles: I’m usually pretty outgoing in most situations but I still show a quiet side in new ones. Ivan will be shy when he first meets new people but within a few minutes has made a bunch of new friends and, in fact, will call them his friends. He’s taught me to be more outgoing in uncomfortable situations. CoSIDA 360 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 21 doing. Making it official gives me some tools to be taken more seriously.” Dorko also credits her athletic director, Danny McCabe, with crafting a job description that combined the roles of communications, senior woman administrator and sport supervisor into an associate AD position she interviewed for and got upon returning to Adelphi in 2017. “Danny does a good job empowering younger members in our department by giving them smaller teams to oversee.” Greenwell said the idea of moving into upper level administration never really crossed his mind as he was moving from a newspaper reporter to the SID at WKU. “I was just so happy to be an SID,” he said. Happy to do his job and do it well. Along the way he fostered relationships and became that go-to guy Stewart could count on. “You need to be really good at your job, build relationships and be that person someone else relies on before you can look for the next job,” Greenwell said. “Be the most dependable person and reliable person in the room — that makes people have trust in you. “A lot of SIDs have the abilities to move up; there’s a little bit of Ten years ago, Zach Greenwell was a student at Western Kentucky University and sports editor for the College Heights Herald newspaper. He was working with sports information contact Todd Stewart on media availability for the football team. Today, Greenwell is the associate athletic director for communications at WKU and recently added sport supervision for the men’s basketball team to his duties and his title. Stewart is his boss, the director of athletics. Eight years ago, Emily Dorko was wrapping up a career as a student-athlete at Adelphi, where she played volleyball for coach Danielle MacKnight. Today, Dorko is the associate athletic director for external relations and senior woman administrator for the Panthers and the sport supervisor for women’s volleyball. MacKnight reports to her. Life comes at you fast. Both Greenwell and Dorko are examples of athletics communicators who have added supervisory responsibilities for one or multiple sports to their already-lengthy list of communications and media relations duties. Dorko supervises cross country, track and field, baseball and volleyball — eight separate programs and three coaches. Her duties include overseeing budgets, making sure they are engaging with alumni and conducting end-of-season exit interviews with senior student-athletes. While Greenwell oversees one sport — the men’s basketball program — he’s tasked with the same duties as Dorko and also concentrates on scheduling for the Hilltoppers. Greenwell said his move into the sport supervisor role was a natural progression, one that gave him more credibility to do jobs he was already doing for the program. For four years, he did his sports information job and did it well, proving to be trustworthy and reliable. So reliable that when college basketball moved from the RPI to the NET, Greenwell was running a lot of metrics and analytics. His understanding of the scheduling process meant he was suited to take over that responsibility. “Scheduling is the best example I can give,” Greenwell said. “It’s a little harder for me to get a foot in the door when I say I’m an SID and I want to schedule. Todd (Stewart) has a lot on his plate right now and some of these things are things I’m already Sport Supervisors Athletics communicators show versatility and value by adding sport supervision responsibilities. by Laurie Bollig | CoSIDA Director of Membership Engagement | Professional Development Zach Greenwell (left) pregame at a game in Diddle Arena with Director of Basketball Operations Talvis Franklin (center) and Associate Director of Operations Martin Cross (right). Ph ot o p ro vi de d b y Z ac h G re en w el l.22 | better context as an SID. I feel like I’m never caught off guard with anything that goes on in the program. I’m better equipped to speak for the program. This informs my job a little better to where there are not a lot of surprises.” Being in alignment with the athletic director is important to the success of any sport supervisor. You have to balance what your AD wants and needs with what your coach wants and needs. You need to be able to take some things off the AD’s plate and off the coach’s plate. Having a good relationship with both, according to Greenwell, is the sign of a good sport supervisor. Dorko agrees. “When we work collaboratively on an issue it could eventually benefit the entire department. Teamwork makes the dream work. It’s cliché but it’s bound to happen when coaches have similar issues when you are on the same campus. We stress working together; coming up with creative solutions that might benefit all of us is really important.” Stewart was looking for efficiencies when he promoted Greenwell. “He helps me tremendously with scheduling and in being a liaison between not only me and men’s basketball but also between our other administrative departments and the basketball program,” Stewart said. “This enables us to be more efficient while also enabling me to use my time in more areas.” Dorko wants the coaches she supervises to know they have her as a sounding board and as someone who can help them. “I always stress that I want to keep the lines of communication open, to keep me in the loop so I can be ready to help them. We try to stress the student-athlete experience as the main priority, letting them know that we are here to help them. They don’t have to do anything on their own.” Greenwell would like to see more athletics communicators stretch themselves and find more ways to add value to their departments. “It’s surprising to me that more SIDs aren’t administrators. We are involved in every possible dynamic more than anyone else,” Greenwell said. “All of that is relationships. Communications is the perfect field for sport supervision. So much of this is communications and relationships.” a stigma that is a hard hurdle to get over. I would love for that to open more,” Greenwell said. Greenwell credits having a boss in Stewart who comes from the communications background and is “deeply entrenched in our profession and values what we do.” Greenwell also credited University of Louisville senior associate AD Kenny Klein and current DePaul University AD DeWayne Peevy, formerly at the University of Kentucky, as people who helped him grow in the profession. “They are two people who are role models and showed me that this job could be more than just media relations and communications,” Greenwell said. “They are perfect examples of how doing your job leads to more responsibility.” In Division II, it’s not uncommon for SIDs to wear different hats. Dorko knew what she was getting into when she took the job in 2017 and would have to fit sport supervision duties into a jammed packed to-do list. “It’s a daily struggle but it’s also an opportunity for me to work hand-in-hand with our coaches. This just allows me to dive a little more into a program, understanding the pressures a head coach might face internally. Being there to support them is rewarding,” Dorko said. Despite the extra duties, both Dorko and Greenwell say that being a sport supervisor has made them better SIDs. “I like to think of myself in this role — and as the SWA — I really try my hardest to get to know each one of these athletes. I really enjoy getting to know them. I enjoy being able to walk across campus and call them by their first name,” Dorko said. In addition, being front and center with coaches and student-athletes in different capacities allows Dorko to build relationships that help her with storytelling. “I’m really trying to let them know that we are here to tell their story. I hope that makes me a better SID.” Dorko’s relationship with MacKnight began when Dorko was on the volleyball team from 2009-12. “When I came back in 2017, I was 26 and still young. I kind of had to figure out exactly what flipping the script meant. What role I would play; how I would support her. It’s been fun figuring out the best ways for us to communicate and tackle issues she might have.” From MacKnight’s perspective, “flipping the script” hasn’t changed their relationship. “I’ve always respected Emily as a person and a player when she was a student-athlete. Now it is nice to have her around the office to bounce ideas off of,” MacKnight said. “She is a very organized person and being a dual student-athlete (Dorko also played softball) with a high GPA can contribute to that. She stays on top of me so I don’t miss a deadline and I very much appreciate that! “Emily was always a very competitive person. When she puts her mind to something she will work hard to achieve it. I think she has done a great job with her career moves after graduating,” MacKnight added. Greenwell estimates in a normal year, he spends 70 percent of his time on communications duties and 30 percent in sport supervision. “I’m very comfortable with the pulse of the basketball program. I’m involved in just about everything they do. I have Professional Development Emilo Dorko (left) with with Executive Director of Alumni Relations Jodie Sperico (center) and Associate Director of Alumni Relations Katie Grant (right). Ph ot o p ro vi de d b y E m ily D or ko .CoSIDA 360 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 23 “If you have the chance to oversee a sport in your department as a sport supervisor, jump on the opportunity. As a one-person shop my first thought was how am I going to manage more duties on top of everything else that needs to be done during the course of the day, week and month. At the end of the day though, like everything else that may pop up during the course of the academic year, you come up with a plan and execute that plan to the best of your ability. “If you take the time to organize your priorities and have passion and enthusiasm for the teams you cover, the extra responsibility of being a sport supervisor becomes part of your daily routine in a way. Knowing that your AD has the confidence and trust in you to get the job done, while taking on additional administrative duties such as sport supervision is very humbling.” Greg Pellegrino – Holy Family Sports Information Director/Sport Supervisor, Women’s Lacrosse “This is my 18th year at my institution. Over the course of those years, I have added more responsibilities to my position of Associate Athletic Director/Sports Information Director/Senior Woman Administrator. I have learned so much of how a college athletics department functions and have become a pivotal member of the department’s leadership team. If I were to ever transition out of the SID world into an AD position, I will have a strong base of knowledge which will allow me to be a better leader. “Definitely get involved if given the opportunity. Having more interactions with coaches, administration and student- athletes outside of the SID responsibilities in more of a supervisory role goes a long way to better understand them and their programs. It also allows them to better understand me when it comes to the responsibilities I have as the SID.” Kelly-Ann A. Di Giulio Light, MSL – Dominican College Associate Director of Athletics/Director of Sports Information/SWA/Sport Supervisor for 17 Sports What advice would you give to SIDs who want to add sport supervision to their job description? “The goal is not to focus on this. If you do that and don’t pay attention to your day-to-day work, it won’t work. Be good at the job you have. You can’t be afraid to offer to help out on things. Offer up ideas in scheduling or budgeting. “Take some ownership and help out where you can. Communications is my love. I don’t think you have to sacrifice the communications role to move up in administration.” Zach Greenwell – Western Kentucky Associate Athletic Director Communications and Men’s Basketball Sport Supervisor “Understand what the duty entails. I would not suggest any SID who is a one-man or one-woman shop take on this responsibility because it’s a lot. But I think it’s a way for SIDs looking to advance themselves. Asking to shadow someone already in a sport supervision role is a great start. Start with a non-revenue sport to get your feet wet before taking on a men’s basketball team. That is a humongous feat. “Coaches tend to get creative with solutions and you need to reel them in sometimes. Always having to be the bearer of bad news has been a learning experience for me. Learning how to express and communicate those things is a definite learning curve.” Emily Dorko – Adelphi Associate Athletic Director for External Relations/SWA “They need to get the trust of their AD and the head coach in their sport. Having the respect of both positions them perfectly to be the AD’s liaison to that sport.” Todd Stewart – Western Kentucky Director of Athletics24 | the unorthodox space in a large, empty gymnasium with just seven student- athletes at a time in order to maintain safe social distancing. Staffing-wise, similar to Notre Dame, we’re unable to employ the same amount of student staff as normal. However, we still have a handful of interns and the goal remains the same; to provide a proper experience where they learn helpful skills as they move forward in the communications/media path. Thanks to conversations with our counterparts at other institutions, we were able to create a semester full of tasks and experiences that provide a proper internship. These range from informational interviews, virtual Photoshop lessons and AP writing workshops, to setting up virtual interviews for those off-campus so they can create their own video features. As communicators, our skills translate to roles outside of athletics. At Manhattanville, we’ve spent time working on various tasks and projects with campus communications. Assisting with overall social media, editing videos and creating digital content for admissions are just some examples. Overall, this experience has pushed us to expand our working relationships with those outside of athletics. At Notre Dame, our Assistant Athletics Director for communications also has been part of a campus communications group since the summer months that has taken up significant time and added opportunities for other staff members to step in and help at departmental meetings and with various projects. Like almost all communications and sports information offices across the country, the pandemic has been challenging in many ways. Schools at all levels have had to adapt and continue to press forward while not knowing what the next day will bring. With staff reductions, hiring freezes, furloughs and newly imposed budgetary constraints put in place — combined with health and safety considerations — so much of what we do and how we do it has to be altered. At Notre Dame, we’ve been lucky enough to have football games, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball matches and cross country meets to host and cover. While everything surrounding the games has changed, the events have served as a welcome point of pride with so many parts of the athletics department coming together to successfully and safely host events that allow our student-athletes to do what they love and compete. Prior to competition getting underway, our communications team spent a great deal of time assisting our coaching staffs in various ways as it came to recruiting. Without official visits, how we were able to present our programs in various social and digital manners became a rallying point in our office as we continued to assert our value within the overall department. Specific personnel challenges surrounding the Notre Dame athletics communications office have included being unable to hire student workers and the majority of freelancers we have used New Media Providing a Quality Student-Athlete Experience Staff reductions, hiring freezes, furloughs and budgetary contraints are challenging for communications staff from DI to DIII. by CoSIDA New Media Committee Members Alex Falk | Manhattanville College, Director of Athletic Communications | Dan Colleran | University of Notre Dame, Director of Athletics Communiations | in the past for staffing games and helping out with broadcasts. Communications directors have cut more highlight packages, worked camera positions on national television broadcasts for the first times in their careers and generally filled more roles we all had our hands on at various points when we were breaking into the profession. In comparison, life at Manhattanville College, a small Division III liberal arts institution in Westchester County, New York, has also been turned upside down. No longer are we working to staff games, create game programs, run live streams and stats for home contests or even have regular interaction with our colleagues. Like most Division III institutions, Manhattanville will not be competing until at least the beginning of 2021. However, we have managed to welcome back a large portion of our student- athletes to campus with practices in the fall and the hope for a 2021 season. Our job is to enhance the student- athlete experience. In order to do that, we’ve had to make various adjustments and concessions. First and foremost, we have made an extra push to capture media around practice. Simply recording new athletic activity, rather than using stock media photos from the season prior — which we have all been doing for the past seven months. Additionally, we wanted to ensure our student-athletes still had a proper media day experience. Instead of hiring our regular contract photographer and his professional set up with all the bells and whistles, we have made do on our own. The effort is appreciated despite CoSIDA 360 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 25 made? It allows more student-athletes to be nominated while also providing further clarity of those who can or cannot be nominated. One other significant change to the Academic All-America program this year is at the Academic All-District level. Nominating SIDs who have student-athletes named to the All- District teams will be given access to a website where they can download and print certificates. This is in place of certificates being mailed to each institution. More information on this will become available closer to those teams being announced. Despite having all of these things laid out, there is still the decision of what statistical data will be used for each nomination. In the past, the program has used seasonal/yearly statistics with the nominators having the option to fill in career highlights to strengthen a student-athlete’s nomination. This past spring, the cancellation of the majority, or in some cases, entire seasons, forced the spring contests to use career-based statistics for nominations. The core committee has had extensive discussion about what to do for the 2020-21 academic year. As of now, the committee has elected to table that decision until more information is available as to where the majority of institutions stand in regard to competition for the academic year. It’s worth noting, however, that the committee desires to return to a season-based system for the statistical part of a nomination. Despite the changes in what’s sure to be an interesting academic year, the core committee is excited to continue with the Academic All-America program in 2020-21! The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt altered the landscape of college athletics. CoSIDA’s flagship awards program, the Academic All-America® program, has had to adjust its schedule as well. The biggest change is all contests for the year will be conducted during the spring and early summer of 2021. There were many conversations among the core committee about having the contest as “normal” as possible, but the inconsistencies with sport schedules, postponements and cancellations of entire seasons made the Academic All-America calendar moving to spring the best option. This means even if you have a student-athlete competing in a traditional fall season, nominations and voting for that program will take place in the spring. We believe this affords all student-athletes, regardless of when they compete as determined by their institution and/ or conference, the best chance for their academic and athletic credentials to be included in the nomination. As we’ve all had to remain flexible throughout this pandemic, the following nomination window schedule is not set in stone. The committee is hopeful, however, these dates do not have to be adjusted again. Each nomination window will open at noon (Eastern) and close at 9 p.m. (Eastern) the following week. 2020-21 Nomination Windows • Men’s & Women’s Basketball – April 13-20 • Men’s & Women’s Soccer – May 11-18 • Football – May 18-25 • Women’s Volleyball – May 18-25 • Baseball – June 1-8 • Softball – June 1-8 • Men’s & Women’s At-Large – June 8-22 • Men’s & Women’s College Division At-Large – June 8-22 • Men’s & Women’s Cross Country /Track – June 22-29 There’s one important change to the At-Large contest that was made this year: the creation of an NAIA At-Large sport listing to the contest running from June 8-22. This was a big point of discussion among the core committee throughout last academic year and the earlier portions of the summer. Any student- athlete can be nominated if that individual participates in a sport that has an NAIA championship. Why was this decision Academic All-America® Program Updates CoSIDA will honor all 2020-21 Academic All-America® teams in the spring. by Mitch Blankespoor | Wilmington College, Director of Communications | CoSIDA Academic All-America® Core Committee Highlights and Changes • The 2020-21 program will run in the spring and summer of 2021. • The NAIA At-Large contest will be based on NAIA championships. • Academic All-District® certificates will be fulfilled via a website template. To Be Decided • If nominations will be based on single-season statistics or career compilations. Academic All-America®26 | noticed that the tumors were shrinking — a great sign that Aaron was on his way to a full recovery to beat this cancer. “They had full confidence that I would be successful and it’s shocking that I was the third kid in the country to have this treatment,” he said, “It was great being able to be a part of something like that at such a young age.” Gaberman completed the trial with six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Despite beating cancer, the biggest challenges Gaberman then dealt with were the circumstances regarding his future in athletics. When he returned to competitive action, Aaron noticed a change in his ability to play. Because of the treatment, he started to feel fatigued quickly, and couldn’t pick up his play at the level of other kids. “When I got diagnosed with cancer, to begin with, it was kind of that point of okay, well I know I can’t be that professional baseball player and I’m not going to be the golfer that I really wanted to be,” Gaberman said. In an earlier interview with YourMission.org, Gaberman noted, “Since the age of ten years old, my body had been severely ravaged due to a series of surgeries and treatments for a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. As a lifelong athlete, I spent countless hours with various trainers to help rebuild and strengthen my body, but the results were uneventful. It became a very frustrating process for me until the fall of my senior year in high school when I discovered a special training center which challenged me through lots of strength training, a special nutrition program, and hard work.” As a high school junior, Gaberman attended a pre-college three-week program at Marist College in Pougkeepsie, New York, sponsored by the Marist School of Sports Communications. Gaberman had the opportunity to learn about the behind-the-scenes experience in broadcasting and sport communications and met professors and sports industry professionals. Something clicked, and he knew right away this was the career path he wanted to pursue. I first met Aaron Gaberman at the 2020 NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar (ELS) this past February. The first conversation we had was while sitting in the lobby at a hotel across from the NCAA national office in Indianapolis — and we quickly bonded over the next three days of the event as I learned about his journey with childhood cancer and how it brought him to sports information and, to a relationship with the late New York Yankees great Bobby Murcer. We kept in touch following our time at ELS, and have seen each other on numerous CoSIDA-related Zoom calls over the last few months, which prompted me to tell his story. Gaberman grew up in suburban Weston, Connecticut, and, beginning at four years old, was active playing his two favorite sports — baseball and golf. A pitcher and first baseman, he played on two youth baseball All-Star teams and his Cal Ripken baseball team won the league championship. In 2004, while almost 10 years old, Gaberman noticed something was wrong while attending baseball camp in Florida. He felt some fatigue and was experiencing headaches. The symptoms got worse later, and he started vomiting. His family noticed a weight loss (his weight dropped to 55 pounds) and Gaberman was later admitted to the doctor for an MRI test. It was on May 25, 2005, when doctors delivered the haarrowing news that Aaron was diagnosed with two aggressive, malignant brain tumors (non-germanomanous brain cancer) that devastated him physically. “It was a little hard to comprehend,” Gaberman said, “as I never knew a kid my age would get cancer or anything like that.” Despite the news, the doctors were confident. A month after being diagnosed, he was just the third child in the country selected to participate in a clinical trial treatment plan at the New York University Medical Center. Gaberman’s treatment consisted of chemotherapy and radiation. Two months later, he started showing signs of improvement following his second round of chemo. Doctors by Allison Hogue | CoSIDA Free Agent | Never Give Up Childhood cancer survivor Aaron Gaberman is living his hopes and dreams as the Athletic Communication Coordinator at Sacred Heart. Aaron Gaberman with the 2018 National Champion Vanderbilt men’s basketball team.CoSIDA 360 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 27 After graduating high school in 2013, Gaberman returned to Marist to further his education. While attending classes, he accepted an internship with the school’s sports information department in the fall of 2015. During his two years working for Marist, Gaberman assisted the SIDs in writing for the school website, preparing game day programs and previews, and formulating and delivering game stats. He took on summer athletics communications internships in his home state of Connecticut at Sacred Heart in 2014 and Yale in 2016. After earning his degree in sports communications from Marist in 2017, Gaberman secured an athletic communications assistantship at Villanova, working as the primary contact for softball, men’s golf, water polo, and the school’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame. In addition, Aaron assisted in support for basketball (yes, that men’s basketball team which won the NCAA title in 2018!) and football. “It was a crazy couple weeks having to send out media guides, deal with a multitude of interview requests, and sending out game notes every week,” Gaberman recalled, reflecting on the Villanova men’s basketball team’s championship moments. “We spent over $10,000 worth of shipping costs just to get our media guide materials to each region of the country for the bracket.” Following his time at Villanova, Gaberman received an offer to return to Sacred Heart as a graduate assistant and earned his master of arts in athletic communications/management. This past September, he was promoted to his first full-time position as Athletic Communication Coordinator. When Gaberman arrives at the office on a typical workday, he always looks forward to working with the student-athletes and promoting their stories. Since entering the profession, he’s grown to become a better communicator and leader. “I never knew growing up this is the profession I’d be in today,” Gaberman said, “I’ve truly found a passion and career doing work I truly love.” When Gaberman is not working in the profession, he’s an activist for battling childhood cancer with Berni & Murcer – Friends for Life, the non-profit organization he and his family started in 2005 that helps bring comfort to kids with pediatric cancer. The inspiration came from Gaberman’s friendship with former New York Yankees legend Bobby Murcer, who was also a two-year brain cancer survivor before passing away from complications of the cancer in July 2008. “I knew Bobby was diagnosed with cancer after his career and I reached out and wrote a letter to him, telling him of my experiences and how much I love baseball, and he responded,” said Gaberman. “I was fortunate to get to know him and felt we were ‘friends for life’. He was an inspiration for naming our foundation. The Berni part of our name was inspired by Bernese Mountain dogs, known for their loyalty, gentleness, great courage and their love of children.” “We create events to raise funds for pediatric cancer and build comfort backpacks for children battling diseases,” he explained, “We include a plush toy in the backpack we give out at hospitals.” In addition to the backpack, kids also receive a book series called The Adventures of Berni & Murcer, a collection of books written by Gaberman’s mom, and Berni & Murcer founder, Terri. The story is based on a dog and child with cancer that go on many adventures. Among the numerous Berni & Murcer fundraising events is Celebrity Scoops, an ice cream social event where Sacred Heart student-athletes and coaches scoop ice cream. This year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Berni & Murcer are continuing to hold these events virtually. No matter the obstacles that come his way, Gaberman continues to persevere through adversity. “Regardless of whatever I was going through, cancer-wise, post-cancer wise, whatever it was, I always continue to strive through the (SID) work I love to do.” This year has brought a lot of challenges for Gaberman during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite no sports going on and the stress of isolation and mental health, he continues to view this experience as a blessing. It also brought Gaberman to view his sports information career from a new perspective. “Because of this, I’ve had the opportunity to grow professionally and take an administrative role which is something I never expected to be a part of until later down the road,” he said, “Now, I’ve had to take charge at an early time in my career, which has been absolutely great and will is propel me going forward.” Gaberman’s personal motto? “Never give up on your hopes and dreams regardless of what challenges come in your way.” (Clockwise from top left). Aaron Gaberman was diagnosed with two brain tumors at age 10. An all-star youth baseball player before his diagnosis, Gaberman developed a friendship with New York Yankees legend Bobby Murcer, who fought brain cancer before succombing to complications of the cancer. His successful treatment spurred the Gaberman family to organize the non-profit Berni & Murcer – Friends for Life. Ph ot o p ro vi de d b y A ar on G ab er m an .Next >