GREENWOOD, Ind. - College Sports Communicators (CSC), formerly known as CoSIDA, has announced its next wave of 2024 Special Awards with Concordia-St. Paul associate director of athletic communications Patrick Rydeen being named the CSC Achievement Award winner.
The CSC Achievement Award honors excellence among professionals who have been career-long assistants. Rydeen has been awarded the honor for the College Division, while the late Heather Brown from the Ohio Valley Conference has been tabbed the Achievement Award winner for the University Division.
Now in the 10th year of the award, Rydeen becomes the second from the Northern Sun (NSIC) to receive the Achievement Award, joining St. Cloud State's Tom Nelson (2015).
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ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, COLLEGE DIVISION
Patrick Rydeen – Concordia, St. Paul
Associate Director of Athletic Communications
A homegrown member of the Concordia-St. Paul athletic communications team,Â
Patrick Rydeen, the Golden Bears' associate director of communications, is the recipient of the 2024 CSC Achievement Award for the College Division.
A baseball student-athlete at Concordia-St. Paul, Rydeen began as an undergraduate intern in the athletic communications office in 2012-13 before spending two years as a graduate assistant. In 2015, Rydeen was promoted to assistant sports information director before being elevated to associate director of athletic communications in 2022.
The primary contact for Concordia-St. Paul's volleyball, men's basketball and track and field programs, Rydeen has overseen the publicity for three of the Bears' NCAA Division II championship volleyball teams. His work with the program has helped elevate the university's overall profile in the No. 13 media market in the United States.
Initially hired to oversee internal webcasting efforts for select sports in addition to his communications duties, Rydeen is now instrumental in helping oversee operations of nearly every aspect of the department.
In addition to his Concordia-St. Paul duties, Rydeen has spent the last 10 years assisting the Minnesota State High School League in various roles with the association's prep state championships. He is in his fourth year as an official statistician for the Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) and Minnesota Lynx (WNBA) and recently completed two seasons as an official scorer for the St. Paul Saints, the Minnesota Twins' Triple-A affiliate.
Rydeen graduated from Concordia-St. Paul in 2013 and completed a master's degree in sport management in 2015.
Achievement Award
Voted upon by the CSC Special Awards Committee, the CSC Achievement Awards are presented annually to one University Division member and one College Division member who have made outstanding contributions to the field of athletic communications and provided exceptional service to their institution, conference or other intercollegiate athletics affiliated association. A nominee must have 10 or more years of experience in the athletic communications field and must not have served in the lead role overseeing an athletic communications office. This award is designed for an individual who has not been a recipient of any CSC major award in their careers (such as Warren Berg, Arch Ward or Hall of Fame).
Read more about the full slate of award-winners on the
College Sports Communicators website.
