Nelson Named AVCA Grant Burger Media Award Recipient
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) has named UW-Oshkosh assistant sports information director Ricky Nelson as the 2017 recipient of the Grant Burger Media Award For Web Journalism.
The AVCA Grant Burger Media Award is an honor intended to recognize members of the media who have been involved in the advancement of the sport of volleyball through consistent coverage in all mediums. It is named in honor of Grant Burger, former Director of Sports Information and Associate Director of the AVCA (1988-92), whose hard work, innovative mind, knowledge and enthusiasm took the areas of media relations and publications at the AVCA to a higher level and increased awareness of the sport of volleyball nationwide.
This year’s list of Grant Burger Media Award winners featured one overall winner, Off The Block. The nine other finalists for the overall award came from the categories of Sports Information, Broadcast, College Student Reporter, Web Journalism and Social Media.
Nelson is a 2014 UW-Oshkosh journalism graduate with bylines in dailies, weeklies, bi-weeklies, Volleyball magazine and as the national columnist at D3baseball.com. Besides his writing background, Nelson has also provided background reporting for Sports Illustrated.
Nelson's NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Blog started as part of a journalism class project that included a website dedicated to the 2007 UW-Oshkosh women’s volleyball team. It has since expanded to include extensive coverage of the Central and Midwest regions as the well as the NCAA postseason.
Nelson's blog, which has attracted more than 200,000 views and 26,000 visitors, features news and opinions for the engaged Division III women's volleyball community.
Nelson, an Oshkosh West High School graduate, is entering his fourth year as UW-Oshkosh’s assistant sports information director.