Brothers work together as SIDs in LU athletics communications department

Growing up together and later working together as adults is a pleasure that many brothers do not experience. A pair of Liberty’s sports information directors, however, get to enjoy just that.

The Carmany brothers, Joe and Paul, work together as SIDs for the Flames athletics department. The two handle organizing interviews for coaches and athletes, play-by-plays, statistics and a myriad of other things for the teams they work with. The stories published online for the teams are often written by the SIDs and their live statistics are handled in-game by the SIDs as well. Joe and Paul Carmany can often be seen on the sidelines or in the press box working on the statistics together.

The two grew up together in New Middletown, Ohio, and went their separate ways when Paul Carmany, who is older by a couple of years, went to college at Ashland University in Ohio. Paul Carmany attended Ashland for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, first graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and later with a Master of Education degree in sport education.

After graduating from Ashland with his master’s, Paul Carmany found himself faced with employment challenges. Despite his lengthy experience, including work as a sports writer for the New Middletown Postmark, a women’s basketball team manager, a sports writer and columnist for the Ashland Collegian and later as a graduate assistant in Ashland’s sports information office, Paul Carmany struggled to find a job.

According to Paul Carmany, he applied to more than 20 different jobs, mostly around his hometown in Ohio. Liberty was one of the few exceptions, and Liberty was the one that ultimately hired him.

His work paid off when Liberty offered him a job as an SID in July 2006. Since then, Paul Carmany has worked with eight different teams and currently works with the women’s basketball, men’s and women’s track & field teams and cross country teams. 

And in 2011, Joe Carmany joined him.

After graduation from high school, Joe Carmany attended Malone University and graduated in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in sports ministry. After graduating from Malone, he moved forward to Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania to earn his Master’s in organizational leadership while working as a graduate assistant. 

After graduating from Mercyhurst, Joe Carmany faced much the same problem that Paul Carmany did: finding a job. And not just a job, but a career.

Between his graduation from Mercyhurst and his hiring at Liberty, Joe Carmany found an internship with the sports communications department at Charleston Southern University during the 2010-2011 academic year. He found his place at Liberty in the summer of 2011.

Joe Carmany currently works with the volleyball, swimming & diving and softball teams.

Since Joe Carmany was brought on, the two have worked together almost nonstop. Between long hours, short off seasons and little time off, the two spend lots of time in the office, working game stats together or traveling with their respective teams.

Working as an SID is not easy. As soon as one sport ends its season, the next one starts. 

“You have no idea what the day will be,” Paul Carmany said. “There are no typical days. You can leave the office in the evening and have no idea what you’ll come in to in the morning.” 

A day may start with answering emails and messages, then meetings, then an afternoon spent at practice and an evening spent working a game, then writing up the stats and a postgame story, then finally, a chance to get around to the original plans for the day. 

Both brothers find it difficult to get enough free time to spend with each other outside of work. When the weather is nicer in the spring and summer, both of them enjoy running together in the mornings before work. 

“Oftentimes, especially since we live in the same town a mile apart, I wish we had more time to spend together,” Paul Carmany said. “I guess that’s, in general, one of the drawbacks of this profession. I wish I had more time to spend with my wife and daughter. But with the travel and the time apart, that’s one of the sacrifices you make.”

The work isn’t all bad, though. Traveling the country with NCAA DI athletics teams is an experience that very few people enjoy. Not only do the Carmany brothers get to fly around the country with their teams, but they also get the reward of watching the student athletes grow.

“I think just getting to see the student athletes grow and develop and succeed and see hard work pay off, both in the classroom and on the court, is the biggest reward for me,” Paul Carmany said.

For Joe Carmany, one of the neatest things is the new people he meets and the places he sees.

“One of the coolest things for me is the amount of access to events and places we have,” Joe Carmany said. “It’s cool to look back and see all the places and people we’ve met.”

The Carmanys found a love for sports early on in life, when the two of them would spend their days watching or playing sports together. Their love only grew as they grew up and became involved with the teams and the sports industry, even if they were not actually competing.

And, unlike some siblings, the two get along very well. Their literal brotherhood has pulled them through a couple of tough situations.

“Sometimes we’ve had some situations that have been very difficult work-wise with technology, and there was one time with volleyball that we got through together,” Joe Carmany said. “It was the best that we could make it, and it was better that we were brothers and that we had that bond. If not, it wouldn’t have come out as well. We ended the night at Taco Bell.”

Not only has their brotherhood helped them through challenges, the challenges have helped them grow closer.

“I hear a lot of people say that they couldn’t work with their brother or with their siblings, and I don’t know of any other SIDs in the country that work with their siblings,” Joe Carmany said. “For us, we don’t really think about it.”