Sports information directors at the junior college level are a rare thing.
Most schools believe money is better spent elsewhere, but the Merced College athletic department would beg to differ.
Pat Kelly is the reason for that.
For the past 25 years, Kelly has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, greasing the wheels to help keep an athletic program with limited funds and recruiting pools competitive.
Doing the work of a complete sports information staff, Kelly maintains the school's athletic web pages, creates game and season programs for MC's 12 athletic teams, and facilitates most of the school's home contests.
Kelly also gives his time to help facilitate a number of the community college state tournaments.
He does all that while committing a couple of hours three days a week to The Independence Resource -- a nonprofit organization that helps the disabled learn basic life skills.
Kelly's quarter century of dedication was honored by his peers last Thursday as he received the Brass Top Award for excellence in his profession during the "Honoring Our Own" luncheon at the California Community College Athletic Association's 15th annual convention.
"My initial reaction was, 'Are you kidding me?' " Kelly said. "The bulk of California's SIDs are down South and they do some really good work, so I never even considered winning an option.
"It's a very humbling experience to be thought of by your peers like that."
While Kelly was taken by surprise, those who work regularly with him on the MC campus said the recognition has been a long time coming.
"It's not true to say we take him for granted, but you come to expect what he contributes," MC athletic director Steve Cassady said. "Having an SID is one of those areas where we've always felt like we have a leg up on the competition.
"It'd be difficult to imagine what we'd do without Pat."
The Blue Devils coaches echoed those sentiments.
From keeping statistics to the fluid operation of home games to the quality of the media guides he puts together, Kelly's hard work lets the coaches worry less about day-to-day details and more about Xs and Os.
"I've worked in a sports information department, so I know firsthand how thankless a job it is," football head coach Bob Casey said. "He does things so well that when we go on the road, opposing coaches that don't have SIDs ask me to bring Pat along to help, because they know what a professional job he does."
Women's basketball coach Allen Huddleston praises Kelly's help with the recruiting process.
"To be able to hand a kid a great looking media guide that shows what the program is about gives us a huge advantage," Huddleston said. "The way he takes pictures, updates the website and puts in the stats for us can sometimes get overlooked, but it just makes my life much easier."
Kelly said the honor has just reaffirmed that he made the right choice.
"When I started out, I thought I'd be at Merced three or four years and then move on to a four-year school," Kelly said. "It's been 25 years and that obviously hasn't happened.
"I'm really happy with what I do. To me, if you really enjoy your work, it doesn't matter how much there is, it's going to be fun."
Sun-Star reporter Sean Lynch can be reached at (209) 385-2476 or slynch@mercedsunstar.com.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 'Merced Matters' appears every Monday. In it we will tell the stories of Mercedians -- ordinary people doing extraordinary things, extraordinary people doing ordinary things and a lot in between. We hope you like our effort to let you know more about others in our community, and we welcome your suggestions. Please contact Mike Tharp at mtharp@mercedsunstar.com or (209) 385-2456 with your ideas for 'Merced Matters.'
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