INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference has named Dan Cunningham and Doug McCarty as this year’s recipients of the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award, it was announced Wednesday by the Conference office. Cunningham was an integral part of bringing the GLVC Softball Championship Tournament to the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois in 2004, and McCarty has played a role in the event ever since the beginning, as well as luring the GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament to EastSide since 2014.
Both men will be formally recognized at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Spring Awards Banquet in St. Louis on May 24.
Cunningham took an active interest in assisting the league to secure a suitable facility to host an eight-team, double-elimination tournament in the community despite the fact that the GLVC does not have a member institution in East Peoria. As executive director for the EastSide Centre, he and his staff dedicated all of their efforts and attention to guaranteeing that the student-athletes, coaches, and fans had a positive experience at the site. The attentiveness of the grounds crew staff, the remarkable draining capabilities of the fields, access to warm-up fields, geographic proximity to all of the schools in the GLVC, and his outgoing personality and tireless efforts to ensure a quality experience quickly won over the coaches and the athletics directors in the league. Cunningham was visible and accessible during the tournament contests and always made an effort to visit with coaches and administrators to get feedback on their experience.
His efforts extended beyond the playing fields as he secured additional sponsorship money to offset the cost of the GLVC Softball Awards Banquet, while also assisting the league staff with securing hotel accommodations for the participating teams.
The EastSide Centre has become synonymous with the GLVC Softball Tournament and has been a great neutral-site home for this championship each May. It is the longest-running neutral-site host for any GLVC Championship event in the 38-year history of the league, none of which would have been possible had it not been for the efforts of Cunningham.
Cunningham remains in the area, but now oversees the construction of the Louisville Slugger Complex. He reached out and welcomed the league’s athletics directors and senior woman administrators to the venue for dinner and a softball game during their Summit meetings last summer.
Following Cunningham’s departure from the EastSide Centre, McCarty stepped into the role of overseeing the venue, and now assists the GLVC with two of its conference championships.
When the league hosted the first GLVC Softball Tournament at the EastSide Centre, McCarty managed the grounds and quickly received praise for his efforts during a rain-plagued tournament in 2004. He and his staff worked tirelessly to prepare the fields for competition when the rain ended so the tournament could be played in its entirety. The league has never had to shorten the tournament due to inclement weather, which has been one of the most valuable assets of hosting the event at the EastSide Centre. McCarty has been a fixture at the tournament, as the 2016 event will mark his 13th straight. Ten years ago, McCarty was nationally recognized for his work at the EastSide Centre by the Sports Turf Managers Association.
McCarty continues to assist the GLVC with setup and tear down at the softball tournament and has been able to maintain the community sponsorship of the GLVC Softball Awards Banquet.
When searching for a neutral site for the GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament two years ago, the GLVC jumped at the chance to work with McCarty and his staff. He converted the indoor community activity center into a championship venue by installing portable flooring and bringing in multiple bleacher units to enclose the playing surface. Similar to softball, McCarty also secured funding for the annual awards banquet.
The GLVC Service Award is named in honor of Dr. Thomas Kearns, who was Northern Kentucky’s faculty athletic representative for 23 years and provided unparalleled service to the GLVC during that period. Kearns served the GLVC as both treasurer and president during his tenure at NKU and assisted with the budget reporting system and the current revenue sharing policy. He spearheaded the league’s first major expansion, wrote the GLVC Hall of Fame guidelines, served on the initial GLVC Awards Committee and developed and maintained the GLVC Handbook. Kearns spent countless hours developing the GLVC into one of the premier NCAA Division II athletic conferences.
In honor of Dr. Kearns, the Service Award is presented to an individual or group that has contributed to the success of the GLVC as it relates to the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, balance, resourcefulness, sportsmanship, passion and service. It was first presented in 2011 to Northern Kentucky’s Kevin Listerman, and has since been awarded to SIU Edwardsville’s Eric Hess (2012), USI’s David and Lois Stevens (2013), Kentucky Wesleyan’s Roy Pickerill (2014), and USI’s Ray and Cindy Bippus (2015) over the last five years.