CORVALLIS, Ore. –
Mike Safford Jr. from The College of Idaho was named the 2019-20 Cascade Collegiate Conference Mike Booth Sports Information Director (SID) of the Year, announced by the league information office..
Booth was the conference/district SID throughout the 1980s and 90s and after he passed in 2005, the CCC sports information directors decided to name the award in his honor for his service to the league.
"I am honored and grateful for receiving the 2020 Mike Booth SID of the Year Award," said Safford. "There are so many great athletic communication professionals in our league and in my over 20 years in the league, we, as a group, have elevated the Cascade Conference to among the best in the NAIA. I share this award with all of my colleagues in the CCC."
The sports information directors of the CCC vote on the annual award, recognizing outstanding work in promotion, work with CCC and NAIA championships events, publicity and marketing efforts.
"Congratulations to Mike on being named the Sports Information Director of the Year, an honor well-deserved," said CCC Director of Communications Sammi Wellman. "Mike has been an integral part in elevating not just the Coyotes, but the CCC as well. It is an honor to work with him."
Safford is in his 19th year as Director of Athletic Communications, serving as the primary contact for 17 of the 20 sports sponsored by the College. He also has served as the play-by-play voice for Coyote football and basketball on radio, along with soccer, volleyball, baseball, lacrosse and softball on YoteAthletics.com.
Safford is also quick to share the spotlight.
"The work that we have accomplished this year at the C of I has been outstanding, thanks to our amazing staff, coaches and student-athletes," said Safford. "I am grateful for the work from my assistant,
Sven Alskog, for the guidance from our Communication Office and for the help my wife, Liza, gives our department with one of the most complete photo galleries in the NAIA. It takes a major group effort to do what we do."
During the 2019-20 season, Safford worked with the CCC and the NAIA during the postseason, hosting games for the CCC Volleyball and Men's Basketball Championship Tournaments, presented by U.S. Bank, along with the NAIA Football Championship Series. He also assisted the CCC office in the transition from StatCrew to DakStats as its statistical provider and has been a mentor to newer SIDs in the conference.
The Puyallup, Wash., native served on the NAIA-SIDA statistical committee and was a voter on the NAIA-Player of the Week committee for swimming and tennis. Safford is a member of the member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America leadership team, handling promotion of all first-team selections through CoSIDA's Instagram page and is a national voter for all Academic All-America programs.
Under Safford's guidance, the Coyotes' Instagram has more than doubled its followers, while both C of I's Twitter and Facebook main accounts nearing 5,000 followers each. To help increase visibility on social media, C of I's athletic communication office created templates to use for graphics across all sports and worked to have game highlights for all football and basketball games available following each game. The Coyotes' website (YoteAthletics.com) also had a record-setting year in page views, amassing over two million views and he is currently in the process of redesigning the website, which is set to launch in August. His work with local media outlets increased the visibility of C of I's football and men's basketball programs in the Treasure Valley, as the Coyotes won the Frontier Conference football title and reached the national quarterfinals, while the Yotes won the CCC men's basketball crown and finished the season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Division II.
Safford had five Top-5 finishes in the 2018-19 NAIA-SIDA Publications and New Media Contest, including a "Best in the NAIA" Award for Game Recap Story. It puts his tally to 67 all-time Top-10 finishes in the contest.
This is Safford's fifth CCC SID of the Year award, the most of any SID in CCC history. In 2016, Safford was honored as the Clarence "Ike" Pearson Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from the NAIA – the highest honor for an NAIA SID.
Safford will go on to represent the CCC as the league nominee for the national SID of the Year Award.
MIKE BOOTH CCC SID OF THE YEAR AWARD
| 2019-20 |
Mike Safford Jr. |
College of Idaho |
| 2018-19 |
Josh McDermott |
Southern Oregon |
| 2017-18 |
Danny Day |
Corban |
| 2016-17 |
Nick Askew |
Northwest Christian |
| 2015-16 |
Danny Day |
Corban |
| 2014-15 |
Josh McDermott |
Southern Oregon |
| 2013-14 |
Mike Safford Jr. |
College of Idaho |
| 2012-13 |
Mike Safford Jr. |
College of Idaho |
| 2011-12 |
Barrett Henderson |
Eastern Oregon |
| 2010-11 |
Jason Dormeyer |
Concordia |
| 2009-10 |
Jason Dormeyer |
Concordia |
| 2008-09 |
Mark Colachico |
Corban |
| 2007-08 |
Mike Safford Jr. |
College of Idaho |
| 2006-07 |
Bobby Thompson |
Oregon Tech |
| 2005-06 |
Tim Smith |
Corban |
| 2004-05 |
Tim Smith |
Corban |
| 2003-04 |
Sam Ghrist |
Eastern Oregon |
| 2002-03 |
Mike Safford Jr. |
College of Idaho |
| 2001-02 |
Rich Rosenthal |
Southern Oregon |
