Ithaca College

Zachary Tomanelli '11, a journalism major, had an article published in Sporting Kid magazine's fall 2008 issue. The article, entitled "Wanted: Trustworthy Volunteers," deals with embezzlement in youth sports leagues. Tomanelli wrote the article for his journalism research class, which required students to write a 20-page, magazine-style article on a topic of their choice.

"I stumbled upon a story in my local paper, about an incident of embezzlement in the local youth sports program. When I investigated this, I saw that it was a growing problem nationwide and thought it would be a good topic to write about," Tomanelli said.

Tomanelli spoke to leading youth sports officials, as well as people who were directly affected by embezzlement in youth sports. After the completion of the class, Tomanelli was contacted by one of his sources, Fred Engh, president of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS), who was interested in publishing the article. NAYS, which distributes Sporting Kid magazine, is an organization that increases awareness and furthers participation in youth sports.

Sporting Kid not only published Tomanelli's article, but even featured it as the cover story. "I was happy to see that the magazine went out of its way to highlight the importance of the article," Tomanelli said.

Tomanelli is a Park Scholar from Malboro, New York.

-- Written by Maura Gladys '11