Rich Obrey, sports editor for Current Publishing, last week won the prestigious Media Award presented annually by the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Obrey, whose work appears in Current Publishing’s family of six newspapers including the Scarborough Current, American Journal and the Lakes Region Suburban Weekly, was honored for his achievements at a banquet held last Thursday evening at Samoset Resort in Rockland.
“Each year, we have a number of awards we present,” said Assistant Executive Director Gerry Durgin, who presented the award to Obrey Thursday night. “Athletic directors from around the state are allowed to make nominations, the 12 members of the board of directors review the nominations and choose who we think is deserving. And Rich, who shows professionalism, character and a good rapport with schools he’s covering, deservedly won it for the print media division.”
Durgin, Gorham’s athletic director, added that “Rich has been instrumental in taking the smaller schools around Portland and giving us almost weekly coverage. And that’s extremely important. He’s not a source to malign what we’re doing, and that’s appreciated. Rich works with us, and it’s nice when that happens.”
Lee Hews Casler, owner of Current Publishing, said she is proud of Obrey’s achievement. Obrey has been with Current Publishing since its inception in the fall of 2001.
“Rich has grown the sports department from covering one newspaper in 2001 to six right now,” Casler said. “Rich is by far the best sports writer and photographer in southern Maine today, and we are so honored to have him as part of our staff. Congratulations to him for receiving this award. He certainly deserves it for all his hard work.”
Casler also praised Obrey’s depth of sports coverage. “Virtually every local high school event in our coverage area is represented in our sports pages,” Casler said. “Rich gets these kids in the pages week in and week out and showcases what they do. That’s huge. So many kids would never be recognized for the great things they do athletically if Rich wasn’t out there taking great pictures and making sure these events are covered.”
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