JARRETT RECEIVES DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Jim Jarrett, director of athletics at Old Dominion University, has been named the 2004 recipient of the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Distinguished Service Award.
The honor is given biannually to an individual who has promoted college athletics and the concept of the student-athlete as a coach, administrator or member of the media for at least 20 years. Jarrett is the 20th recipient of the award voted upon by the state's sports information directors.
Jarrett joined the athletic department at Old Dominion in 1967 as a health and physical education professor. He quickly rose to the post of Director of Athletics in 1970 at a time when Old Dominion was a Division II member of the NCAA.
In 1974 he became the first director of athletics to award grant-in-aids to female student-athletes and within five years ODU had won its first national championship when the women's basketball team captured its first of three national titles and led the nation in attendance.
During Jarrett's tenure, Old Dominion's athletic venues have tripled and include some of the finest in the state including the new, 8,600 seat, Ted Constant Convocation Center. Other venues added over the years include the 2,500 seat Bud Metheny Baseball Complex, the Sailing Center, Outdoor Tennis Complex with 15 lighted courts plus a championship court with seating for 1,000, the 4,000-seat ODU Soccer Stadium and renovations to Foreman Field.
Over the years, Jarrett's work has been recognized by numerous groups. In 2003 he was named Southeast Regional Athletic Director of the Year by NACDA. In addition he received the Collegiate Director's Award from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and has been named the Norfolk Sports Club Man of the Year.
He is a former member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee and a past president of the Colonial Athletic Association and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. Additional information on the award can be found at VASID's web site at www.ferrum.edu/athletics/vasid/Distinguished.htm.