2025 NJCAA Sports Information Director of the Year
NJCAA Sports Information Director of the Year
The NJCAA Sports Information Director of the Year is awarded to a sports information director who best exemplifies the overall purpose of promoting and leading their institution, athletic department, and student-athletes through sports information.
Created in the spring of 2020, the NJCAA Sports Information Director of the Year is part of the NJCAA Annual Awards that honor three distinct categories across the association - Athletic Director of the Year, Sports Information Director of the Year, and Athletic Trainer of the Year. These awards represent individuals who strive to create the optimal student-athlete experience on their campus while also performing duties that go far beyond the institutional level. To view past winners, visit: NJCAA Annual Award Past Winners
Steve Carpenter – Hutchinson Community College (KS)
Steve Carpenter is in his 21st year as the Sports Information Director for the Hutchinson Blue Dragons and is the only SID Hutchinson has ever employed. Carpenter is responsible for all facets of the sports information department, including the creation of game notes, providing statistics, maintaining BlueDragonSports.com, updating social media accounts, and any other digital needs for the Hutchinson athletic department. Year over year, Carpenter goes above and beyond for not only Hutchinson sporting events, but also any other events taking place on campus. He serves as the media contact for all Kansas State High School events held at Hutchinson and is the NBC Baseball Statistician for the Hutchinson Monarchs.
Listeners may recognize Carpenter's voice as the play-by-play announcer for all Blue Dragons' baseball, softball, and soccer games along with select basketball games. He also serves as the public address announcer for Hutchinson volleyball games. Carpenter helped create and host the Countdown to Kickoff weekly radio show during football season and the Blue Dragon Talk show for men's and women's basketball. In addition to his on-air roles, Carpenter leads statistic documentation for Blue Dragons events and teaches students how to operate the statistic platforms. He has overseen statistics for numerous NJCAA Championships at Hutchinson, including basketball, volleyball, football semifinals and bowl games, and track and field.
Carpenter leads the Regional and Conference SID Committees, organizing player of the week nominations. He was also selected as an additional poll voter for the NJCAA Women's Basketball committee in 2023-24. Carpenter has earned numerous accolades in his career including the Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award, College Sports Communications National Championship honors, and many Kansas Press Association and Harris Enterprises Awards for Sports Writing, Column Writing, and Page Design.
Carpenter became the first full-time Sports Information Director at Hutchinson after a 17-year journalism career that spanned four newspapers in two states. Prior to joining the Blue Dragon Athletic Department, Carpenter was the sports editor of The Hutchinson News from 1995 to 2003. At The News, Carpenter covered Blue Dragon athletics, taking over as full-time football and volleyball beat writer in 1997 and the entire Blue Dragon/junior college beat in 2001.
For all 2025 NJCAA Honors and Annual Award Winners, visit: 2024-25 NJCAA Award Winners
For all NJCAA Honors, please visit: NJCAA Honors Home