2020 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. 

David Spiegel – Monroe College (NY) | Sports Information Director

The NJCAA is proud to announce Monroe College's David Spiegel as the inaugural recipient of the NJCAA Sports Information Director of the Year honor. Arriving at the school's New Rochelle, NY campus in July 2017, Spiegel has embodied the primary criteria of the award: contributions to improving the student-athlete experience, a multitude of sports information roles, number of sports covered, and involvement in national organizations – both internal and external of the NJCAA.

"David has been instrumental in taking our sports information operations to the next level. He has great creativity skills, a superb work ethic, and he takes the initiative whenever there's an opportunity for improvement," said Monroe Athletic Director Luis G. Melendez. "David is loyal to his craft and works tirelessly in achieving accuracy and immediacy with his reporting; be it stats, post-game recaps, or releases on special stories."

Spiegel is responsible for the coverage of more than 20 teams at Monroe College, including the college's rugby and junior varsity programs. The programs have had a great deal of success under Spiegel's work; in 2018 the women's soccer team completed an unbeaten season by capturing the NJCAA DI Women's Soccer title in Foley, AL. The following year, the men's team would capture the 2019 NJCAA DI Men's Soccer title in Tyler, TX. The volleyball team has made appearances to the NJCAA DI Volleyball Championship in each of the three fall seasons Spiegel has been with the program while both basketball programs qualified for each respective 2020 tournament before the COVID-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of both championships. Monroe played in the program's first-ever football bowl game in 2018 before earning a second berth in 2019. The baseball program also made back-to-back appearances at the NJCAA DI Baseball World Series.

"Having the distinct privilege of being the first-ever NJCAA SID of the Year is a career-defining honor," said Spiegel of the award. "I cannot be more grateful toward the NJCAA, not only for selecting me for this award, but also for allowing me the opportunity to expand my horizons by including me on various national rankings committees and providing me with thrilling experiences like the JUCO World Series and bowl games."

Spiegel is also tasked with maintaining the athletic program's website, including the design of the site as well as managing student-workers, hiring photographers and public address announcers, social media management, and media relations.

In addition to his duties with Monroe, Spiegel also serves as the NJCAA Region XV Sports Information Director and serves as a site supervisor for region and district championship tournaments. Spiegel also serves as a voting member of the three NJCAA poll committees: football, DI men's basketball, and DI baseball.

A native of New City, NY, Spiegel previously served as the Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Communications at Pace University after a two-year stint as Sports Information Director at Mount Saint Mary College. Spiegel got his start in the sports information world after taking the Assistant Sports Information Director role with SUNY New Paltz after serving as an intern as an undergraduate student.

An active member of College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA), Spiegel earned a bachelor of arts in journalism from SUNY New Paltz in May 2012 before completing his masters in sport management from SUNY Cortland in May 2015.

For all 2020 NJCAA Honors Award Winners, visit: 2020 NJCAA Honors Award Winners Home

For all NJCAA Honors, please visit: NJCAA Honors Home