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The lack of sports going on at Hutchinson Community College leaves HutchCC’s Sports Information Director, Steve Carpenter, wondering how he will fill up his usually-full schedule this time of year.
With baseball and softball playing so many games, spring is normally the busiest time for Carpenter.
“I’m used to going 18-20 hours a day in March, and when word came out that everything was canceled, that was a shock to my body and my sanity,” Carpenter said, “not to mention my wife’s sanity having me home now.”
Carpenter usually calls Blue Dragon baseball and softball games, but he will miss out on that this year due to cancelations. In addition, the NJCAA Division 1 national track and field meet was scheduled to be held at Gowans Stadium this year.
“I was actually disappointed that national track was canceled,” Carpenter said. “ I really wanted to watch Andrew Kibet and Sylvestre Kibarar run one more time as Blue Dragons.”
Despite not having any athletic events to look forward to this spring, Carpenter is still finding ways to keep busy.
“There is still plenty for me to do without games,” Carpenter said. “I am updating records and updating BlueDragonSports.com. To keep our fans engaged, we started a new podcast called ‘Conversations with Carp’ on our YouTube channel. That’s been really fun so far. I will also start prepping for the 2020-21 season.”
It’s always good to find the positive side of things during these troubling times. One positive point for Carpenter came on April 1, when he was awarded the NJCAA Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award.
“Steve Carpenter is as good as they come as a sports information director,” Blue Dragon Athletic director Josh Gooch said in a HutchCC Sports Information press release. “He is respected locally and nationally. Events that Hutchinson Community College put on or are hosted by on our campus benefit from having Steve on staff.”
A long-time sports editor at The Hutchinson News, Carpenter was hired in 2004 as the first Sports Information Director in the history of Blue Dragon Athletics.
“I’m very honored to win the Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award,” Carpenter said. “Mary Ellen is a great person, and I enjoyed working with her during her time at the NJCAA. My goal from day one was to have the best Sports Information Department in the NJCAA. Every student who has worked for me over those 16 years has had a hand in doing just that. I’m very proud of every one of them and very proud of what my department has accomplished.”
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First, my condolences to Tina now that Carp is spending more time at home. It’s evident from the interview that the special gift that elevates Steve to the level of top SIDs is that he’s not just a talented administrator, he’s a fan. That was evident when he was a sports editor and it’s evident in his job at HCC. And you can’t get better than that.