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May 3, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Football Writers Association of America has included Virginia in its fourth annual “Super 11” field of sports information departments deemed the best in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision during the 2012 season. The honor is Virginia’s first since the award’s inception in 2009.

UVa’s day-to-day efforts for football media relations are headed by Jim Daves, Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations and Vincent Briedis, Assistant Athletics Media Relations Director.

Virginia is the lone recipient from the ACC on the FWAA’s list of honorees in 2012. The other school’s honored are Baylor, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Georgia, Houston, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon State, Vanderbilt and Wyoming. UVa is only the third ACC institution to ever be honored with the FWAA’s “Super 11” award, joining Clemson (2009, 2010) and Georgia Tech (2011). Incoming ACC members Pittsburgh (2009) and Syracuse (2011) have also been recognized with the “Super 11” award from the FWAA.

Since the FWAA’s inception in 1941, one of the organization’s charges is to provide better working conditions for writers across the country. Over the years, the FWAA has given out press box commendations to deserving schools and has conducted ratings of sports information departments.

“There are many outstanding sports information departments representing schools across the nation,” said Tim Griffin, the FWAA’s 2010 president and chairman of the Super 11 selection committee. “But we continue to feel it is very important to honor the best of the best – including some we’ve honored multiple times over the years. These 11 departments are consistently exemplary above and beyond the call of duty.

“It is our commitment to continue to honor in upcoming years the departments who understand the demands of our jobs and strive to do what they can to try and help us on a consistent basis.”

Criteria in determining criteria in determining the winners not only included how press boxes/operations were run, but the quality and timeliness of information provided, the amount of information presented and appropriately updated on websites, personal responsiveness to media inquires as well as the accessibility of players, head and assistant coaches. The ratings also took into consideration the departments that went the extra mile in servicing the media.

The Super 11 Committee received input from other FWAA members covering college football during a period from Feb. 1, 2012 through Jan. 31, 2013.

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