Keene State College Assistant Athletic Director Abe Osheyack has been a member of KSC’s athletic staff since 2014. Prior to being promoted to Assistant Athletic Director in the 2017-18 school year, Osheyack’s position title was Director of Sports Information.
Besides being a staff member at the school, Osheyack is also a KSC alumnus of the class of 2006. Osheyack said before he came back to work at KSC, he was an intern in the Athletic Communications department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he helped coordinate video streaming. After he finished his internship, Osheyack moved to Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Florida, to be a sports information director. Osheyack also said from 2010 through 2014, he worked for Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, as a sports information director, where he brought Smith’s athletic program live statistics and online broadcasts of home athletic events.
He said when he was hired at KSC in 2014, the athletic program was in great need of in-depth digital video. From there, Osheyack contacted KSC Journalism Professor Mark Timney, who he said he is very close with. Osheyack said, “I have known Mark Timney since I was 20 years old.”
As well as reaching out to Timney, Osheyack added that he also contacted Journalism Professor and Department Chair Dr. Chad Nye. He said, “The idea did not take off right away, but I kept working and building relationships with Mark and Chad.” He said it was not until the summer of 2017 when he, Timney and Nye formed the idea of Inside Owl Athletics. He said their main goal was to cover athletics and create internship opportunities for students.
Now, in the 2018 spring athletic season, Inside Owl Athletics has between 10 and 14 weekly episodes that highlight KSC’s on-field action, and studio interviews with student-athletes or the athletic department faculty.
Osheyack said, “Before Inside Owl Athletics, there has never been something so dedicated to sports coverage by the college.”
During the interview, Osheyack was also asked to share one of his favorite memories from his work for the college.
Osheyack said one of his coolest experiences while working for the college was when he was able to witness the KSC men’s basketball team beat Christopher Newport University and advance to the Elite Eight. He said being able to be on the court and in the locker room was something he will never forget.
Director of Athletics and Recreation Kristene Kelly said she has worked closely with Osheyack her entire time working at the college. She said Osheyack is a part of her administrative team, which helps her run the athletic department, so she meets with him weekly.
When asked about her role with Inside Owl Athletics, she said she does the most she can, but that it is mostly Osheyack’s “pet project”. She said the project is “a really good one, too.” Kelly said, “Abe has a lot of love and passion for his job and is very good at it.” She said he is one of the smartest people she has ever met.”
When Kelly was asked to describe her work relationship with Abe, she said, since she is a former sports information director, working together is very easy. She said they both see things from the same perspective, which makes communication and decision making very simple. Kelly also commented on Osheyack’s dedication to the program.
She said, last year, Osheyack made a bet that if they reached a certain number, he would die his hair blonde.
They ended up reaching their goal and he followed through with dying his hair. She said, “I would never touch my hair, so I think by him doing that, it really shows his dedication and compassion to the athletic program and his job overall.”
Assistant Sports Information Director Missy Kubik was employed by the college in August 2015. Kubik said she met Osheyack when she was a student at Smith College.
Kubik added that, after her internship at Springfield College, she ran into Osheyack at a National Collegiate Athletic Association conference.
There, she said, he told her there was a sports information position opening at KSC. Kubik said she applied, got the job and has been working with Osheyack ever since.
When asked what kind of boss Osheyack is, Kelly said he is, overall, very trusting.
She said that he will ask her to do something once and trust that she will get it done. She said, “He is definitely not a micromanager. He is very approachable and understanding, which makes my job a lot easier.”
Hannah Cook can be contacted at hcook@kscequinox.com
