Orange Coast College SID Tony Altobelli receives prestigious honor from College Sports Information Directors of America

GREENWOOD, Ind. - Orange Coast College Sports Information Director Tony Altobelli will be honored by colleagues from throughout the nation this June in Las Vegas when he receives the prestigious Bud Nangle Award from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) at its annual convention.

The Bud Nangle Award is presented to a member of CoSIDA or to an individual outside of CoSIDA who shows ethics, integrity and bravery under unusual or stressful situations while carrying out their job duties. He'll be recognized with other major award winners from CoSIDA: Sam Atkinson (Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award), Bill Jones (Lester Jordan Award) and Patrick Walsh (Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award)

Altobelli is in his 14th year as Sports Information Director at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, and is a member of the California Community College Athletic Associations (CCCAA). He is a one-man office, handling all SID and game operation duties for 24 teams and is the longest-tenured sports information director in Orange Coast College’s 72-year history. Prior to serving as the sports information director, Altobelli spent 15 years as a sportswriter, working for numerous newspapers in Southern California and some others in central Texas.

Yet nothing in his experience could have prepared him for the tragedies of January 26, 2020 and their aftermath. That was the fateful day of the helicopter crash that took the lives of nine individuals — the lives of three of Altobelli’s family members and six others, including NBA superstar Kobe Bryant. Altobelli lost his brother, nationally-recognized Orange County baseball coach John Altobelli, and John's wife and daughter — Tony's sister-in-law Keri and niece Alyssa.

As spokesperson for the Orange County athletic program, Altobelli immediately began performing his job in the crisis with bravery, courage and determination. In the early aftermath of the tragedy, Tony handled an enormous amount of international, national and local media demands, coordinating all publicity for the accident, putting together the school's official statement about the deaths of John, Keri and Alyssa, and meeting with staff, coaches and families of the baseball student-athletes. Two days after the crash, he prepared and coordinated a January 28 public service and remembrance of Coach Altobelli on opening day of the Orange County baseball season, attended by a huge media contingent and over 2,000 fans, 40 times the typical attendance. Altobelli served as the emcee and public address announcer as well.

While serving as the crisis communications spokesman and in midst of the media crush, Tony also penned an emotional, poignant and humorous tribute to his brother entitled: Dear John … Thank you … Love, Toad.

Through it all, Tony has not halted his in-game SID duties, serving as the public address announcer, official scorer and scoreboard operator for each baseball game and at other OCC events. Altobelli and the Orange County College community continue to daily face the aftermath of the crash and the loss of their head baseball coach in their new reality.

Earlier this month, Altobelli was honored with the Brass Top Award from the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA), given to an SID at the community college level, or someone working closely with members of the CCCSIA, to recognize outstanding service and accomplishments. He served as President of the association from 2009-11.

(Courtesy CoSIDA)