COLLEGE PARK — Pam Ward ’84, a trailblazing play-by-play commentator, has been named the winner of the 2025-26 Sam Lacy-Wendell Smith Award.
Established in 2013, the Lacy-Smith Award is presented annually by The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism to a sports journalist or broadcaster who has made significant contributions to racial and gender equality in sports. Past winners are Claire Smith, James Brown, William Rhoden, Michael Wilbon, Bob Costas, John Smallwood, Christine Brennan, Jim Trotter and Kevin Blackistone.
The award is named after Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith, Black sportswriters who spent much of their journalism careers advocating for fairness, equality and justice in sports.
Ward received the award on Monday, April 20, during a luncheon with students at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. The award presentation followed a lively conversation in which Ward shared stories and advice with the aspiring journalists.
"What motivated me to keep going? Stubbornness," she said of her career. "Every 'no' was a motivation for me.”
In 2000, Ward became the first woman to call play-by-play on a Division I college football game. She joined ESPN in 1996 and spent nearly 30 years as an anchor, host, play-by-play commentator and analyst. She was a leading voice in the network's coverage of women’s college basketball, college softball and the WNBA.
Ward graduated from the University of Maryland’s Radio, Television and Film program, which was absorbed into Merrill College, and in 2023 was inducted into the Merrill College Hall of Fame.
"To me, Pam Ward isn’t legendary because she is a first. She’s legendary because she always advocated fearlessly not to be an only," said Blackistone, last year's Lacy-Smith winner and Merrill College professor of the practice.
Ward was selected by a committee appointed by the Povich Center. Members, who also serve on the Povich Center Advisory Board, include Christine Brennan, Monica McNutt ’13, Daniel Oyefusi '19, Roxanna Scott and David Steele ’85.
"At a time when play-by-play broadcasting was a men's-only club, Pam Ward stood alone," Povich Center Director Mark Hyman said. "She broke down barrier after barrier in a broadcasting career that has inspired countless women to pursue careers in sports media. The Povich Center is so pleased to honor her with the Lacy-Smith Award."
ABOUT SAM LACY AND WENDELL SMITH
Sam Lacy worked at his craft for more than 80 years, primarily as sports editor of the Baltimore Afro-American. He was the first African-American member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Lacy died in 2003 at the age of 99. Wendell Smith covered the Negro Leagues for a number of newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Courier, The Chicago Defender and Chicago Herald-American.
For many years, Lacy and Smith attended MLB meetings where they worked from hotel lobbies interviewing owners and writing columns about the need for integration. Lacy and Smith were each honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) for their lifelong contributions to sports journalism with the Red Smith Award — Lacy in 1998 and Smith in 2014.
ABOUT THE POVICH CENTER
The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism prepares students to be innovators and leaders in all facets of sports media. The center's unique, experiential curriculum and public programs elevate and amplify discussion of race, gender, politics and the world — just as Shirley Povich did each morning in The Washington Post.