(Seguin) – Texas Lutheran University’s Athletic Training and Sports Information/Sports Marketing departments received their respective Staff of the Year awards from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after voting among members of the respective peer councils.
TLU’s Athletic Training staff was named the 2019-20 SCAC Athletic Training Staff of the Year.
TLU’s Sports Information and Sports Marketing staff was named the 2019-20 SCAC Sports Information Staff of the Year.
The Sports Information Staff of the Year award began prior to the 2016-17 season. The Athletic Training Staff of the Year award was introduced ahead of the 2012-13 season.
TLU Athletic Training is made up of two full-time staff members: Matt Matocha, the head athletic trainer and Amy Menzies, athletic trainer. Matocha and Menzies were assisted by graduate assistant athletic trainers Jordan Legendre and Sierra Villemaire and eight TLU student athletic trainers.
TLU Athletic Training handled athletic training duties for the 2019 SCAC Volleyball Tournament Championship when TLU hosted the event in Seguin. The staff was in line to host the 2020 SCAC Track & Field Championships before the meet was cancelled.
In addition, TLU Athletic Training covered athletic training duties for the university’s 18 NCAA men’s and women’s varsity sports. This marks the first time that TLU’s athletic training staff has been recognized as the SCAC Athletic Training Staff of the Year.
“It’s good to get recognized for all the hard work you put in,” said Matocha, who just completed his 11th year at TLU. Menzies just finished her fifth year with the Bulldogs.
The TLU Office of Sports Information and Sports Marketing is made up of two full-time staff members: Tim Clark, director of Sports Information and Sports Marketing, and Joey Dearing, assistant director of Sports Information and Sports Marketing. This also marks the first time TLU has earned the honor of SCAC Sports Information Staff of the Year.
TLU’s Sports Information and Sports Marketing staff previously was named the American Southwest Conference Sports Information Department of the Year award for the 2008-09 athletics seasons.
TLU Sports information and Sports Marketing handled media coverage and hosting duties for the 2019 SCAC Volleyball Tournament Championship and covered the TLU Men’s Soccer run to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history after winning the SCAC Championship last fall.
Additionally, the TLU staff launched a new athletics website heading into 2019-20 season and produced and broadcast over 80 home athletic events throughout the year.
TLU Sports Information and Sports Marketing provides game and event management for around 100 on-campus sporting events each year and coordinates the TLU Athletics’ website (tlubulldogs.com), video and print story-telling, and social media efforts.
“We thank the SCAC and our fellow SIDs and athletics communicators for this honor,” said Clark, who is completing his 22nd year with the Bulldogs. “We thank all of our student workers, our 2019 fall sports intern Grant Sims, our photographer Dustin Wyatt, our broadcast partner KWED 1580 AM and its sports director Mike McBride, and all who help us on a daily basis in the office and at the games.”
Dearing, also an assistant baseball coach with the Bulldogs, joined TLU Sports Information and Sports Marketing in February of 2019. Dearing has been an assistant coach with TLU Baseball since the 2018 season, when the Bulldogs finished as the NCAA Division III national runner-up.