The Bob Kenworthy Community Award is presented annually to a member for civic involvement, community service and accomplishments outside of the sports information office. Voted on by the CoSIDA Special Awards Committee.
If clothes make the man, CoSIDA's Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award winner
Patrick Walsh is a bow tie, neat and knotted.
Raised in Louisville, Kentucky – home of mint juleps and horse racing – Walsh started wearing them regularly as a student once he landed at the University of South Carolina, a collegiate bow tie hotspot. Before his first class, he already had a job in sports information and was enrolled in the Gamecocks' sport management program.
All he needed now was experience.
And neckwear.
"I didn't start wearing them to fit in," said Walsh, now in his 16th year in the industry, of his signature sartorial style. "I loved the look, the vibe, and how it adds a touch of character to otherwise drab business attire. Also, I love the best part about the bow tie — the ability to untie it and let it hang around your neck at the end of the day like Frank Sinatra did."
Even if you're not Sinatra, a bow tie makes you easy to find, either on press row or by the piano bar, spots Walsh regularly happens upon as the Associate Director of Communications at Little Rock. And talk about meant-to-be: he learned how to tie one in less than 15 minutes. If you've ever tried to tie a bow tie, then you know this makes Walsh practically a bow tie savant.
Some guys got it, and some ain't.
All that being said, even the best bow tie can't write a feature, update stats, set up a few interviews, tweet the latest scores, or help raise funds to either aid in cancer research or help the family of a fallen law officer, fraternity brother, and close friend.
Walsh can. And has and does.
The naked truth is this: What really makes the man is not the clothes; it's what he's doing when no one is looking, when ties and shoes are Sinatra-loose but knotty problems that won't solve themselves aren't sleeping.
The Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award is presented annually to a CoSIDA member who is this sort of person, one who makes the games and athletic programs and fan experience better but at the same time makes a difference due to positive civic involvement, community service, and accomplishments outside of the sports information/athletic communications office.
Walsh is the first person from the Little Rock Trojans Athletic Department to receive a CoSIDA Special Award, which was to be presented this summer during the organization's first-ever trip to Las Vegas. The cards deemed that trip to be delayed and he will now be bestowed next summer, in Orlando.
Walsh has been a co-founder and leader of two non-profit organizations, Wiggin' Out and Heroes in Blue. Through both he has utilized his adaptable skillset of strategic communication, promotion and social media to raise money for causes close to his heart.
"Community service is encouraged in CoSIDA but that's not necessarily why I volunteer my time," he said. "It's a sense of duty I feel to my community, my peers, and those in my profession."
He had a good model growing up: his maternal grandmother, Mary Cross, recognized that service to others is important for the growth of a community. She has spent much of her life volunteering her time at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, and she served on the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Board there. And all the while without a bow tie: clothes don't make the woman, either.
Wiggin' Out, a non-profit that helps provide cancer patients with wigs, is a cooperative organization that began when Walsh worked in Athletic Communications at Louisiana Tech. The organization raised nearly $100,000 during the years Walsh served and is now a well-established force in North Louisiana.
Walsh also co-founded Heroes In Blue, a charitable organization that raises awareness of the positives that law enforcement has on our communities and provides assistance to families of fallen officers. As a part of that, he led the social campaign to raise $190,000 in five days when a South Carolina area police officer — fellow USC fraternity brother Greg Alia, who left behind a wife and toddler — was shot and killed in the line of duty in September 2015.
"That time was such a whirlwind of emotions, but I know his wife was incredibly appreciative," Walsh said. "There wasn't a second thought about trying to find ways to help his family when we found out he was killed in the line of duty.
"I know the money raised helped in a dollars-and-cents way," he said, "but more importantly, in a time of tragedy, it provided — even if only temporarily — a sense of comfort and reassurance knowing that of all the challenges they were to face in the coming days, weeks and months — the ability for Greg's wife Kassy to pay bills and provide for their sixth-month old son Sal — would not be a challenge she would have to be concerned with."
A winner of two handfuls of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) national publications awards and multiple other writing and promotional honors, Walsh joined the Little Rock Athletic Communications Department in 2019 and is the primary contact for women's basketball, volleyball, cross country, and track and field. He is also active in CoSIDA as part of the Convention Programming Committee working to deliver a virtual convention to the organization's membership while also serving as a mentor in the industry.
Walsh is a 2005 graduate of the University of South Carolina where he majored in sport and entertainment management and was a member of the South Carolina Honors College. At USC he worked as a student assistant in the sports information office where he worked with several Gamecock programs and was the public address announcer for South Carolina Baseball at Sarge Frye Field.
He resides with his fiancée and with his bow ties in Little Rock. Their wedding was originally scheduled for this summer but, like his receipt of this award, that auspicious occasion has been delayed a year due to the pandemic. Just more time to figure out how to sneak a bow tie around the bridal bouquet.
Teddy Allen is a member of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and is a writer for Louisiana Tech University. He is known for giving Karl Malone the nickname, "The Mailman."
