Orlando, FL — Bob Corradi, who served the past 26 years Massachusetts Maritime Academy Director of Athletics, was honored recently as one of four Division III recipients of the 2014-15 UnderArmour National Athletic Director of the Year Award at the 2015 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) James J. Corbett Memorial Awards Luncheon at the World Center Marriott.
(From left) Kathy Corradi, MMA 2/C Alex Rozak, Bob Corradi, MMA Capt. Ed Rozak and new MMA Athletic Director Trish O’Brien at the UnderArmour National Athletic Director of the Year Award Ceremony in Orlando, Florida.
Photo Courtesy of MMA Athletics
Corradi received the accolade at an event that included 27 other distinguished honorees from seven different divisions across intercollegiate athletics, including athletics directors from the University of Kentucky, Texas Christian University, Baylor University, the University of Connecticut, Long Beach State University and the University of Dayton.
A native of Bourne, Mass. and a current resident of Sandwich, Mass., Corradi has been a fixture on the Massachusetts Maritime campus for 43 years, as he became the only head baseball coach that the Academy has known at the NCAA level in 1973. Corradi, who will retire from both of his positions later this month, joins his longtime friend and former Bridgewater State University Director of Athletics John Harper as the only two Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference administrators to receive this prestigious national award, which was created to honor intercollegiate directors of athletics for their commitment and administrative excellence within a campus and/or college community environment.
“For over 40 years as the head baseball coach and for 26 years as Athletic Director, Bob Corradi has been the face, the heart, the soul and the spirit of MMA Athletics,” Massachusetts Maritime President Admiral Rick Gurnon said of the UnderArmour Award. “He knew that this small special mission college with a regimental lifestyle and an unusual academic year (the students are all at sea or away at internships for the winter) would present obstacles to attracting talented players and coaching them through the distractions of sea term semesters and a strict uniformed lifestyle, but he embraced the differences and ran a top quality, highly successful fall and spring season with an intense, sustained passion that is rare in college sports. The college will honor him this June by presenting him with an honorary doctorate at graduation – officially making him a permanent Buccaneer!”
Corradi concluded his final campaign on the baseball diamond this spring, and the Buccaneers sent him out in style with his first MASCAC championship in 33 years while collecting 17 overall wins in 2015 en route to the program’s ninth post-season appearance. “Coach C” amassed 579 victories in his 43 seasons and was named as the MASCAC Coach of the Year on four occasions, including this spring as Massachusetts Maritime posted a 10-4 conference slate. Last week, he was tabbed as the ECAC Division III Co-Coach of the Year after guiding his squad to a berth in the New England semifinals in May. Bob guided the Buccaneers to both the MASCAC and ECAC titles during a 1982 campaign that saw Massachusetts Maritime win a school record 28 games, and in the fall Corradi served as Assistant Football Coach for 38 seasons under Head Coaches Don Ruggeri, Joe Domingos and Jeremy Cameron, helping lead the Buccaneers to a pair of New England Football Conference championships in 1977 and again in 1983.
Corradi served in a number of different administrative capacities at Massachusetts Maritime prior to assuming his current role of Director of Athletics in September 1989. He has overseen the growth and development of a program that has nearly doubled from eight sports when he assumed his duties to its current 15 varsity sport offering, and he also oversaw the construction of a new turf athletic stadium (Clean Harbors Stadium) while helping to implement new construction and upgrades to existing athletics facilities both on and off campus, including the Clean Harbors Athletic Center, Commodore Hendy Field (baseball), Alison Rollins Field (softball) and the Keith Hartford Sailing Center on Herring Pond. During Corradi’s tenure as Athletics Director, the amount of student-athletes participating in intercollegiate athletics at the Academy has tripled, and nearly 45 percent of all student-athletes participating in at least one sport have achieved a minimum 3.00 GPA over the past seven years, another example of his commitment to the mission of Massachusetts Maritime and NCAA Division III.
“This is an incredible honor, and one that wouldn’t have happened without all of the opportunities provided to me over the years by the Academy’s administration,” Corradi said of the Under Armour Award. “I want to thank Admiral Gurnon, (Vice President of Student Affairs) Captain Ed Rozak, each and every student-athlete, my entire staff, coaches and all members of the Buccaneer family for their hard work and support—this is a reflection of the trust and belief that they have placed in me and that I have in them.”
In addition to the many honors he has received from Massachusetts Maritime, including Academy Employee of the Year in 2007, Corradi has been recognized with other numerous accolades, including the two highest awards bestowed by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association: the Jack Butterfield Award for integrity and dedication to the game of college baseball in 2010 and the Andy Baylock Award for significant contributions to the betterment of New England college baseball in 2012. He received the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Fred Ebbett Lifetime Achievement Award for his many contributions to the league and to its Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2013, he was feted during the American Legion District 10 All-Star Game in Hyannis for his years of coaching and dedication to American Legion baseball, specifically the Clark-Haddad Post 188 team in Sandwich. Two months later, Corradi was honored as the 2013 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Male Administrator of the Year. This week is an especially busy time for Corradi, as he will receive an honorary doctorate from Massachusetts Maritime at the Academy’s 2015 Commencement ceremonies on Saturday morning.
Corradi joined Bob King of Trinity (Tex.) University, Julie Soriero of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Charlie Titus of the University of Massachusetts Boston as the Division III recipients of this year’s Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award, which spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). All NACDA-member directors of athletics in the United States, Canada and Mexico who met the criteria were eligible for the award. Among the criteria were service as an AD for a minimum of five academic years; demonstration of commitment to higher education and student-athletes; continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence; and the ability to inspire individuals or groups to high levels of accomplishments.
Corradi was joined at today’s event by his wife Kathy along with Captain Rozak, Assistant Director of Athletics Trish O’Brien, Sports Information Director Jim Seavey and 2/c Alex Rozak, the Academy’s Regimental Commander and a standout pitcher on the Buccaneer baseball team.
About NACDA: NACDA, now in its 50th year, is the professional and educational Association for more than 11,000 college athletics administrators at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. More than 4,000 athletics administrators annually attend NACDA & Affiliates Convention Week. Additionally, NACDA manages 15 professional associations and three foundations. For more information on NACDA, visit www.nacda.com.
— Press release provided by Massachusetts Maritime Academy Director of Sports Information Jim Seavey. Additional materials included in this release courtesy NACDA Media Relations. Edited by Capecod.com Sports Editor Sean Walsh
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