National Winners Announced for 2023-24 CSC Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest for both University and

June 25, 2024

in Member Contests,

College Sports Information Directors of America

National Winners Announced for 2023-24 CSC Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest for both University and College Divisions

National Winners Announced for 2023-24 CSC Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest in University and College Divisions

A story about football (not the American kind) and a story about a foot shared top national honors in the 2023-24 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest.

"The Originals," David Kiefer's chronicle of the often rocky path to varsity status for the Stanford University women's soccer team, was named National Story of the Year in the University Division. "McDivitt's Road to Success a Lesson in Defeating Adversity," written by Christopher Kuchta about a Prairie State Collegesoftball player with a prosthetic foot, took home National Story of the Year in the College Division.

This year, for the first time in the contest's history, the Stabley Writing Contest was split into University and College divisions, allowing more recognition of the work done by members from smaller offices to be saluted for quality long-form feature writing.

For Kiefer, the Stanford Athletics executive editorial producer, this was his fifth National Story of the Year honor.

"It crossed my mind that the origins of Stanford's women's sports programs had never been chronicled," recalled Kiefer. "When I could, I checked the archives of the Stanford Daily, curious to find the first mentions of 'women's soccer' in the school paper. That's how I discovered a student, Allison Brown, who singlehandedly started what would become NCAA championship program by putting a notice in the school paper looking for women willing to play together in the men's intramural league. What I found was a joyful - and even tragic - story that no one knew about.

"One gratifying aspect was that after this story came out, the university brought Allison Brown to campus from her home in Germany to honor her for her contributions."

"I feel that Colby's story was one that absolutely needed to be told because it truly is proof positive that we all can achieve well beyond what others try to set as a ceiling for us, no matter what type of challenges we may face," said first-time national winner Kuchta, the assistant athletics director at NJCAA's Prairie State College (Chicago Heights, Ill.). "Colby is a great person and softball player and it was an honor and privilege to be afforded the opportunity to tell her story.

After Kuchta's story was published, McDivitt received the NJCAA's Inspirational Athlete of the Year Award.

"It's also an honor beyond words to be selected as the recipient of an award with Mr. Stabley's name on it," Kutchta added. "I'd like to thank the selection committee for also honoring Colby with this selection as without her, there is no story."

Nearly 400 entries were submitted in seven categories in the 2023-24 contest. Each category was first judged on the district level, with the winners then advancing to national consideration. All national category winners were considered for National Story of the Year.

Kiefer, the University of Pennsylvania director of athletic communications Mike Mahoney and Millersville University director of athletic communications Ethan Hulsey each won two categories in the national judging.