Youngstown State Associate Director of Athletics and Director of Athletics Communications Trevor Parks was celebrated for reaching 25 years in the profession by the College Sports Communicators this week. The organization recognized 29 members with 25-Year Awards in at the Orlando World Center Marriott Orlando at its annual convention, 2025 CSC Unite, on Wednesday.
Parks has been with the Penguins since 2000, and he manages all aspects of media relations for Youngstown State's 21 intercollegiate athletic programs. The 2025 football season will be the 26th with Parks leading the program's publicity, and he also currently serves as the primary sport contact for the tennis and track and field programs.
In addition to his media relations duties, many gameday roles across the department fall under his umbrella. He helps coordinate YSU's broadcasts on ESPN+, assists with the day-to-day social media efforts, routinely updates YSUsports.com, and serves as a primary statistician for several sports. There are only a handful of home events each season in which fans would not see Parks wearing one of his many hats while tirelessly working to enhance the experience for YSU's student-athletes and fans.
Parks oversees a staff of five full-time employees and a graduate assistant in the Athletics Communications Department, and the longevity of his work relationships points to his qualities as a manager. Each of the five full-time employees under his direction have worked alongside him since 2018, and two have been with him for more than 22 years.
Parks has accumulated several honors from College Sports Communicators (CoSIDA), including the Youngstown State football game program voted Division I-AA/FCS Best in the Nation five times from 2001 through 2008.
Before he joined the YSU staff in 2000, Parks spent a year as women's sports information director at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1999. He served a two-year internship with the Nebraska Sports Information Office from 1997-99, where he managed all aspects of media relations for the Nebraska baseball and women's rifle teams along with assisting all other varsity sports.
Parks earned his bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1996. He spent three years as a reporter and editor for the school newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan.
Trevor and his wife, Pennie, have been married since 2006 and have a dog, Rylee.
Quotes of Support for Parks
Jamie Hall, Youngstown State Athletics Communications, CSC 25-Year Award (2023): "For 25 years, Trevor and I have worked together, and for 25 years he has been a true leader for not just our athletics communications office, but our entire athletics department as well. He leads by example and is willing to do whatever it takes to make our department the best it can be. Trevor appreciates and is grateful for the hard work his staff puts in on a daily basis, and he goes to bat for them. He's the type of person you want to work for. Trevor is always willing to help people professionally and personally. Most importantly, Trevor has been a great friend for 25 years."
John Vogel, Youngstown State Athletics Communications: "Trevor has spent almost his entire career leading our office and has instilled a culture of working hard to get the job done right, rolling with the punches and embracing the fun of the grind. He has the uncanny ability to never let us know when he's having a tough day, and in this profession, those certainly exist. That kind of consistency makes coming into the office each morning much easier after the long nights at an event or in front of a laptop. While many of our full-time staff have stayed together for many years, we have had numerous talented students come through our office who have gone on to enjoy successful careers in and out of sports. I would bet most if not all of them would look back fondly on their time with Trevor as their boss and say that he positively impacted their professional development, and I'm not sure there could be a greater testament to his 25-year legacy."
Bob Hannon, Youngstown State Football play-by-play announcer: "Trevor is a pleasure to work with. He is a pro and is always proactive in getting me what I need for my broadcasts well in advance of gameday. He is always providing me with those nuggets of information about our football players that don't show up in game notes, but are of interest to our listeners. Most of all, he loves Youngstown State and his commitment to the Penguins is inspiring."
2025 CSC 25-Year Recipients
Rob Bentley – Ferris State University
Paul Capobianco – University of Wisconsin
Jeff Conrad – University of Houston
Drew Dickerson – Atlantic 10 Conference
Steve East – University of Central Arkansas
Steve Fink – University of South Carolina
Scott Flanders – UC San Diego
Brian Fremund – Vanderbilt University
Jon Fuller – University of Buffalo
Tom Gilbert – Kansas State University
Scott Goode – Harding University
Stephen Gorchov – Hofstra University
Dan Lukes – St. Norbert College
Colin McDonough – Northwest Missouri State University
Marlene Navor – Auburn University
David O'Brian – Binghamton University
Trevor Parks – Youngstown State University
DeWayne Peevy – DePaul University
Greg Royce – City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC)
Mark Simpson – Big South Conference
Jill Skotarczak – Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Jim Stephan – Belmont Abbey College
John Sudsbury – Allstate Sugar Bowl
Kurt Svoboda – University of Washington
Blake Timm – Pacific University (Ore.)
Joseph Vanden Acker – Lawrence University
Tim Volkmann - Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Larry White – University of Alabama (retired)
Tammy Wilson – Southeastern Conference (SEC)
