Alan Wickström Selected as 2020 GNAC Sports Information Director of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINTHROP, Mass. – Former Simmons University Director of Athletics Communications Alan Wickström (Rochester, N.H.) was named the 2019-20 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Sports Information Director of the Year, it was announced by the league on Wednesday.

Wickström becomes the first communications professional in Simmons history to earn the honor, which is determined by a vote of athletics communications professionals among the 13 conference members.

"I am extremely honored to have been named by my peers for this prestigious honor," said Wickström. "This award could have easily gone to a number of professionals within our conference and I'm humbled to be thought of as one of the best within our league."

The longtime SID was tabbed by the GNAC following a year that saw Simmons Athletics launch a new website in January of 2020 to provide a clean, bold look, while also focusing the spotlight on the institution's student-athletes. The school improved its webstreaming capabilities, while maintaining its worldwide reach to fans of the Sharks through livestats and social media. During the academic year, Wickström publicized a conference champion swimming & diving team in addition to an All-American, an All-Region competitor, the GNAC Field Hockey Goalkeeper of the Year, a pair of Coach of the Year recipients and 27 All-Conference honorees.

Wickström also provided coverage of Simmons' academic successes, highlighted by a College Sports Information Directors of America Academic (CoSIDA) All-District performer and the school's soccer team, which boasted the highest grade point average in the nation, in addition to nearly 100 student-athletes who received academic recognition either at the regional and conference level or by their respective sport organization. Like all NCAA athletics programs, the Sharks had their 2020 spring season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic which ended campaigns for Simmons softball and lacrosse, following the best respective starts in school history. Wickström also served as the Meet Director for the GNAC Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships for the third straight year.

During his six-year tenure with the Sharks, the Seton Hall University graduate oversaw the implementation of live video streaming over the web as well as in-game live stats and live, real-time correspondence via social media. Wickström dramatically increased the school's visibility on social media with quality graphics and video highlights, while introducing the first-ever weekly newsletter for Simmons Athletics to communicate the Sharks' achievements to the campus community, alumnae/i and fans. A member of CoSIDA, who has served as a District Coordinator for the Academic All-America program since 2015, Wickström also enhanced the written content in addition to archived materials on the Sharks official website. During his time at the Fenway School, the veteran PR man promoted seven different coaches of the year, 10 conference team champions, multiple All-Americans and All-Region selections as well as dozens of all-conference performers. Wickström also developed a relationship with the promotions department of the neighboring Boston Red Sox and helped promote coverage of the school's opening of Daly Field, its state-of-the-art outdoor athletic facility, in conjunction with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2016. 

Wickström has enjoyed a 29-year career in sports media relations, including 23 years as a director within the athletics communications field that has seen him oversee coverage at Wheelock College in Boston, University of Massachusetts Boston and Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham. Wickström publicized stories that garnered attention from The Today Show, Good Morning America, ESPN, CNN/SI and Sports Illustrated in addition to all the local Boston digital and print media outlets. In addition, he has earned University and Department awards during his career. Wickström is well-known throughout the region and has served as a media relations professional for the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Lacrosse and Field Hockey Championships as well as various BIG EAST Conference Championship events and a number of NCAA Championship venues. The New England native took a hiatus from covering college athletics to serve as the Manager of Publications and a PR Assistant for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where he helped to publicize the 1999 induction class of Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Robin Yount and Orlando Cepeda as well as the following year's induction group of Carlton Fisk, Tony Perez and Sparky Anderson. He also served as a media relations assistant for Major League Baseball's American League Division Series in both New York and Boston in 1999. His four years at Seton Hall were spent under the tutelage of such longtime college athletics communication greats, John Wooding and Marie Wozniak, where he followed their example for developing a passion for covering college athletics during one of the most successful four-year periods in the school's history.