TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN NAMES JOE MONACO
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS AND SPORTS INFORMATION
Contact: Mike Bond (mibond@panam.edu), Assistant Sports Information Director

Edinburg, Texas - The University of Texas-Pan American has named Joe Monaco as Director of Athletic Media Relations and Sports Information. The appointment of Monaco concludes a national search for the position. He will officially begin his duties at UTPA on June 1, 2004.

In his role as Director of Athletic Media Relations and Sports Information, Monaco will act as the athletic department's primary liaison with local and national media outlets while also serving on the Executive Staff of the UTPA Athletic Department. In addition, he will be responsible for the production of all sport program media guides, the coordination of the statistical crew for all home contests and the maintenance of www.utpabroncs.com, the UTPA Athletic Department's new webpage.

"We are pleased to announce the naming of Joe Monaco as the Director of Athletic Media Relations and Sports Information at the University of Texas-Pan American," said UTPA Director of Athletics William J. Weidner. "Joe has gained solid and well-versed experience while serving a 20 sport athletic program that has over 400 student-athletes at Ashland University. On behalf of our entire Athletic Department at the University of Texas-Pan American, we welcome Joe Monaco as the newest member of the Bronc and Lady Bronc family."

Monaco is currently the Assistant Sports Information Director at Ashland University, an NCAA Division II perennial power. He began working in the Sports Information Department during his sophomore year of undergraduate studies. As his role and duties expanded, Monaco has been responsible for the compilation and publication of numerous media guides, weekly news releases, the dissemination of various game-day publications and feature stories to name a few.

During his time at Ashland, Monaco also served as a Sports Producer with Cleveland.com, Ohio's largest news and information website. Among his duties were assisting in the editing and layout design of website content, writing and editing special live and breaking news events and writing daily features while covering the NFL's Cleveland Browns training camp. Monaco also served as the Sports Editor for Ashland's student newspaper, The Collegian and hosted a call-in sports talk show at the University.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity that I have been given to work at the University of Texas-Pan American," said Monaco. "After visiting with the administrators, staff and coaches, I really feel that the athletic department is moving in the right direction and I'm honored to become a part of it. The one thing that really attracted me to the position was the challenge of building a top-notch Sports Information Department at a successful NCAA Division I institution. I'm looking forward to meeting those challenges head-on."

A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Monaco attended Boardman High School where his prowess on the baseball diamond led him to Ashland. He was a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship team and participated in the NCAA Division II World Series as a freshman. Monaco earned his bachelor's degree in Sports Communication and Journalism from Ashland in 2002. He is finishing his master's degree in Sport Sciences, also from Ashland. Monaco is an active member of CoSIDA (The College Sports Information Directors of America).