Deutsch Wins Prestigious AVCA Media Award for Third Straight Year
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (July 5, 2009) – For the third year in a row, Vassar College publicist Robin Jonathan Deutsch has been honored for his tireless work promoting the Vassar volleyball programs. Deutsch recently earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Grant Burger Media Award for Division III women’s volleyball coverage in the New York Region. He was one of just 10 recipients in Division III men’s and women’s volleyball and one of just 30 recipients across all NCAA Divisions and Conferences. Deutsch was also an AVCA Grant Burger Media Award winner in 2008 and 2009.
In February, Deutsch was promoted from his position of Sports Information Director to Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications, Marketing and Promotions.
“As evidenced by being selected three consecutive years as the Grant Burger Media Award winner, we know that we have the best in the business right here at Vassar College,” said Sharon Beverly, Director of Athletics & Physical Education. “His dedication to the promotion of volleyball as well as all sports at the college is phenomenal and we are very lucky to have him on our staff.”
The AVCA Grant Burger Media Award is an honor intended to recognize members of the media who have been involved in the advancement of the sport of volleyball, whether it be through consistent coverage in all mediums (sports information, print, broadcasting and web content), production of volleyball-specific publications or extensive radio and/or television exposure. It is named in honor of Grant Burger, former Director of Sports Information and Associate Director of the AVCA (1988-92), whose hard work, innovative mind, knowledge and enthusiasm took the areas of media relations and publications at the AVCA to a higher level and increased awareness of the sport of volleyball nationwide.
The Vassar women’s volleyball team went 24-9 in 2009 and behind Deutsch’s efforts freshman Hilary Koenigs was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Year and Honorable Mention All-New York Region by the AVCA. In addition, freshman Chloe McGuire and sophomore Amy Bavosa earned First Team and Second Team Liberty League honors respectively.
On the men’s side, Deutsch promoted a Brewer squad that went 18-9. Deutsch's work behind the scenes helped earn the Brewers countless prestigious awards. Graduated senior Phil Tully was named the AVCA National Player of the Week on March 1, only the second time in six years a Vassar player received such an honor. The previous year, Deutsch secured similar honors for graduate John Kessenich. For the third year in a row, a Vassar player was represented on the AVCA All-America Tam as Tully was named to the Second-Team. Additionally, head coach Antonia Sweet was named the NECVA Metro Coach of the Year, Tully a First-Team selection and freshman John Konow the conference Rookie of the Year.
"Robin is a great advocate for the sport of volleyball and always represents our teams and the game in best possible light,” said Jonathan Penn, head coach of the women’s volleyball team. “Vassar and volleyball nationwide are lucky to have him doing such a great job year in and year out. It is a well-deserved honor."
Said Antonia Sweet, an assistant coach on the women’s team and head coach of Vassar’s men’s team, “Robin’s ability to promote our team through both the written word and his innovative graphic skills allows our program to shine in the best possible light, making current and former players proud. He understands the game and anticipates the action. His web postings read like the best short stories.”
Deutsch recently finished his sixth year at Vassar. He is an active member of the sports information profession, serving as a former national publications coordinator for CoSIDA, the national organization of Sports Information Directors. Among his many accomplishments at Vassar, more than 500 athletes have earned weekly recognition through Vassar’s affiliations – Liberty League, NECVA, AVCA, ECAC. In addition, more than 60 players have earned First-Team All-League Honors, 50 to the Second-Team and a two dozen Coaching Staff of the Year honors. For his efforts in promoting Vassar's women's volleyball team, Deutsch earned the prestigious 2008 and 2009 Grant Burger Media Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Before arriving at Vassar, Deutsch was the Director of New Media and Information Services at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA (2000-2004), where he worked since 1991. At the Hall of Fame, Deutsch also served as Director of Marketing & Public Relations (1991-2000), responsible for all marketing, public relations, publishing, advertising and admission initiatives.
During his 13 years at the Hall of Fame, Deutsch also managed the Hall’s yearly election and enshrinement process, developed the Hall's first-ever Web site in 1997 -- and subsequent versions up until 2004. He was an exhibit, content, design and project manager for the new $35 million Hall of Fame, which opened in 2003. During his tenure at the Hall, he earned a dozen Best In The Nation citations from CoSida, for excellence in publications, writing and graphics. He is a certified member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAAP).
A former Board member of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), Deutsch served as a columnist for Basketball Times and Eastern Basketball Magazine, from 1981 to 2005.
A 1983 graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, MA., Deutsch began his career as Director of Sports Information at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia (1983-86), where at age 22, he became the youngest Division I SID in the history of the profession. Following St. Joseph’s, he joined the New York Times Magazine Group as an Editor with Tennis Magazine (1986-1991), where he managed the magazine’s tennis equipment coverage. In 1986, he was a national finalist for the prestigious Neal Award for an investigative piece on tennis equipment mail order fraud and his story was the only one in the history of the New York Times Magazine Group to appear in all of the groups’ commercial publications.