Stabley Writing Contest Open For Current CoSIDA Members: Submit Your Best Work!
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2017-18 Stabley Writing Contest Open In New Awards Portal
CoSIDA Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest Previous Winners Year-By-Year
Submission Deadline: February 23, 2018 (noon Eastern)
In our profession, we are called upon to use our writing skills each and every day and we create tremendous stories that captivate our audience. It is a major aspect of our jobs and an aspect that we take very seriously. For all of our hard work to recognize others, are we not also deserving of some recognition??
With that in mind, CoSIDA members are encouraged to submit entries for this year's Writing Contest. The deadline for entries is February 23, 2018 and they can be submitted online
- Submissions for the Stabley Writing Contest are open to CURRENT CoSIDA Members ONLY.
- Entries must have been written/published between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017.
- Only ONE (1) entry will be allowed per category per author. Also, that one story can only be submitted in one category. SO BRING YOUR BEST!
- All dues-paying members of CoSIDA are encouraged to enter the contest. Non-members of CoSIDA who work in a sports information/media relations capacity (graduate assistants, interns, student assistants and volunteers) are invited to submit stories as long as each entry is sponsored by a dues-paying member of that office.
To Submit Your Work
- Using your 2017-18 CoSIDA membership portal and Academic All-America logins, please log into the CoSIDA Awards portal at www.CosIDA.com/awards.
- Click on the "Contests, Grant Programs and Scholarships" graphic.
- Click the "begin a new submission" link.
- You fill out a page with YOUR information as the nominator. In the Category dropdown, select the "Stabley Writing Contest"
- On the next page, all the information can be filled in.
- You can save and go back to an unfinished nomination. To submit, make sure to "Save and Finalize" so that your submission will be placed into the portal.
Criteria & Categories
There are seven categories:
- 1. Event Coverage
--An entry detailing the happenings of a sporting event (game, match, tournament). - 2. General Feature
--An entry detailing a group's achievement or a non-sporting event. - 3. Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature
--An entry detailing the story of a coach or administrator or recalling a historical event. - 4. Athlete Profile
--An entry detailing the story of a student-athlete. - 5. Blog
--An entry that is produced with personal opinions, activities, and experiences. - 6. Season Preview/Recap
--An entry previewing or recapping a sports team's season. - 7. Story With Video (cannot be from outside of office; please send script if one available)
--An entry that is accompanied by an internally-produced video. Video should help tell the story, but not be the main part of the entry.
Judging
All entries will be forwarded to a district representative, who will gather a panel of three judges. The stories will be judged by category only, with the top story in each category at the district level being forwarded to a national panel of judges.
- Flow/Organization
- Grammar/Punctuation
- Interesting/Original
- Focus/Clarity of Subject
- Video/Story Correlation (Video Category Only)
District coordinators reserve the right to re-classify an entry if it is not submitted for the proper category.
Awards
District judging will begin immediately after the submission deadline and will end in early April. National judging will then commence and is expected to conclude in mid May. The district and national winners are slated to be announced in early June. Winners at the district level will be emailed a PDF certificate, while national winners will be mailed a plaque.
Questions about the Stabley Writing Contest program? Contact:
Wade Steinlage
CoSIDA Stabley Writing Contest Chair
William Penn University
(641) 673-1025
steinlagew@wmpenn.edu
Barb Kowal, CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Affairs
(512) 739-1234
barbkowal@cosida.com
Stabley Writing Contest District Alignments
District 1 (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec)
District 2 (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia)
District 3 (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia)
District 4 (Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee)
District 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba, and Ontario)
District 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)
District 7 (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta, and Saskatchewan)
District 8 (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, British Columbia, and Yukon)
Previous Results: CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest Award Winners
2017-18 District Winners LINK National Winners LINK
2016-17 District Winners LINK National Winners LINK
2015-16 District Winners LINK National Winners LINK
2003-04 - unavailable
1992-03 - unavailable
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Calendar
Important Dates
06/23/26 / 11:59 P.M.
M/W At-Large Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
06/30/26 / 11:59 P.M.
M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
07/07/26 / 12:00 P.M.
W At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
07/08/26 / 12:00 P.M.
M At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
07/14/26 / 12:00 P.M.
M Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
06/07/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/08/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/09/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/09/26 / 11:59 P.M.
Baseball Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
06/10/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/16/26 / 12:00 P.M.
Softball Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
06/16/26 / 12:00 P.M.
M/W At-Large Academic All-District Released; National Voting Begins (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
06/16/26 / 11:59 P.M.
M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Nomination Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
06/23/26 / 12:00 P.M.
M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-District Released; National Voting Begins (NCAA, NAIA)
06/23/26 / 12:00 P.M.
Baseball Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
06/23/26 / 11:59 P.M.
M/W At-Large Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
06/30/26 / 11:59 P.M.
M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
07/07/26 / 12:00 P.M.
W At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
07/08/26 / 12:00 P.M.
M At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
07/14/26 / 12:00 P.M.
M Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
06/07/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/08/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/09/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
06/09/26 / 11:59 P.M.
Baseball Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
06/10/26 / All Day
2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas