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John Martin – Colorado State University, Assistant Director of Communications / Game/Events Management/Facilities

CSC Lifetime Achievement Award

by Diane Nordstrom – University of Wisconsin, Associate Director of Brand Communications / CSC Special Awards Committee

For John Martin, his career in athletic communication was “a unique 26-year ride, full of ups and downs.” He spent the majority of his collegiate career in athletic communications, and recently moved to game and events operations at Colorado State. He will soon be leaving the profession to pursue other opportunities.

Martin started his career as a marketing and public relations intern with the Oklahoma City Cavalry of the CBA in 1992. Just three weeks into his position, the public relations director left and Martin was forced to take over his duties.

“I really enjoyed that and through various work, I knew I wanted to work in sports communications,” said Martin.

He also worked three U.S. Olympic Festivals for the U.S. Team Handball Federation which led him to a job with the sport group for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, working on building and then running the stats system and event operations.

John Martin family photo taken in 2020 in Colorado (L to R): son Alex, John, wife Lyndsey and son Cameron right before Cameron’s high school graduation.

After working the Olympics, Martin got his start at Detroit Mercy where he worked for two years before moving on to Eastern Michigan. He credits his first bosses – Mark Engel and Ken Lasky at Detroit and Jim Streeter at Eastern Michigan – of giving him the confidence to continue in the profession.

“All of them gave me a chance to not only learn about the business but take charge of different projects and run with them,” explained Martin. “I grew so much in that first five years that it gave me the confidence moving forward.”

Martin then traveled south to work at Coastal Carolina for seven-plus years as the assistant athletic director for sports information. He then moved to Virginia, accepting a position at James Madison University where he served as assistant athletic director in charge of athletics communications. Martin has spent the last seven years at Colorado State working in communications and most recently in facilities and game management.

“I’ve always tried to help a place take the next step forward, but I also had a loyalty towards schools that gave me an opportunity and stayed for a while rather than jumping around every year or two,” said Martin. “I loved a challenge which is why I tended to gravitate towards schools that were on the verge of their next big thing.

“It gave me a sense of pride to be able to look back and see some of the improvements that were created through the great efforts of my staff. However that wouldn’t have been near as successful without working with some great people.”

Martin credits his friends and colleagues within the sports information community for their knowledge and support, including Tim Glon, Jeff Miller, Diane Nordstrom, Lenny Reich, Paulette Welch, Will Hancock, Angie Renninger, Kevin Ruple, Brian Morgan, Ryan Koslen, and Michael Smoose.

He also remembers all of the students, interns and assistants that he has work with that “brings back a ton of great memories and pride in what they have all accomplished in their lives – both personally and professionally. I hope that I had a little bit of positive impact on where they are now, because my pride in them is greater than anything I ever did individually.”

In his 26 years, Martin has many moments that he will always remember but there are three at the top of his list.

In 2003, Coastal Carolina started a 1-AA football program. As the sports information director, he and his staff of Kent Reichert and Sarah Barbee had to wait to set up the football press box at 4 p.m. on Friday for a nationally televised football game the next night due to a soccer game in the same facility earlier that day. The Chanticleers scored a touchdown with seven seconds to play for the win.

In 2008, Coastal Carolina baseball earned the right to host a NCAA Regional. It took a passionate group of staff to make it happen with months of planning before the start of the season. It was another story-book ending as the Chanticleers won the winners’ bracket game with a homer and then put up 13 runs in the second inning of the championship game to win.

Martin also recalls Amber Campbell from Coastal Carolina, who was one of the nation’s pre-eminent hammer throwers. Campbell finished third at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials but was 10 inches short of the qualifying mark. Martin was proud of the grace in which Campbell handled that moment and her determination over the next four years which led her to qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The hammer thrower also qualified for the 2012 Olympics but when Martin called to congratulate her, he forgot about the time difference and called her at 7:30 a.m. in Oregon.

“I profusely apologized for not realizing the time and she had none of it as we shared another moment of joy in her career,” said Martin. “She made a third appearance in 2016, finishing her career as the top U.S. finisher to that point in the Olympic Games. But more than that, Amber has become a life-long friend who continues to share her joy and love for life with me to this day.”

As with many other athletic communications professionals, Martin will always remember the people that he has worked with during his career.

“It has been about serving the student-athletes, coaches, staff programs and colleagues around the country, and working to build relationships with as many of them as were willing,” said Martin. “Staying in touch with all of those people and knowing that they want to stay in touch with me and my family because of what I added to their experience and how I treated them is one of my greatest accomplishments. It makes me realize that there is much more that occurred beyond the wins, losses and awards.”

While Martin has enjoyed his move to facilities and game management, being able to spend more time with his family, he expects that his next job will be outside of college athletics. Martin has used his increased free time to watch his son, Alex, play high school baseball, making up for missing many events and special occasions due to his profession. Martin is also using his collegiate experience to guide Alex through the NCAA recruiting process.

Martin credits his wife Lyndsey for being the “rock of the family in managing everything with all of my travel, crazy hours and sometimes unique situations.”

He also credits his mother Caryn, who told him athletic communications was “something I might check out for a career … and I hate to admit (again), that she was right.”

Gallery: (5-5-2023) John Martin, Lifetime Achievement

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