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IHSAA TO HONOR WALT FERBER OF JASPER’S WITZ RADIO
A familiar radio voice on southwestern Indiana airwaves for 30 years, Walt Ferber of WITZ Radio in Jasper will be honored this weekend with the 2010-11 IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award for District III.

Ferber’s contributions to Indiana high school sports will be recognized on Saturday (Jan. 29) during the New Albany-Jasper boys basketball game. IHSAA Commissioner Elect Bobby Cox and Sports Information Director Jason Wille will make the presentation to Ferber.

Since 1980, Ferber has worked as Program Director, Sports Director and Account Executive for WITZ. He’s in charge of programming for the station, hosts three daily sportscasts and serves as the play-by-play announcer covering Jasper High School in football, baseball, boys and girls basketball, volleyball, and boys and girls soccer. This spring, he’ll begin calling Wildcats softball games for the first time.

He is also the former Voice of the Dubois County Dragons baseball team during its time in the Heartland and Frontier Leagues as well as the Voice of the Dubois County Bombers Prospect League Team.

Ferber is a 1974 graduate of New Albany High School and earned a B.A. degree in Telecommunications from Indiana University in 1978. While a high school student, he was an on-air personality and called sports play-by-play for WNAS and WREY and continued working in radio in various capacities throughout college and following graduation with Bloomington’s WTTS and WGTC.

The 54-year-old has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work over the years. He’s received the Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year from the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in 1996, won Associated Press Play by Play Awards in 1995, 1996, and 1997, and won the Distinguished Service Award from the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association in 1997. Most recently he’s received the Virgil Sweet Award from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association in 2005, Network Indiana Play by Play Awards in 2006 and 2007, Network Indiana Sportscaster of Year in 2007, and was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

Ferber served the Jasper Chamber of Commerce as its Vice President in 2002 and as President in 2003 and is a member of Central Christian Church in Huntingburg where he sings in the choir and volunteers as a Sunday school teacher.

He and Melanie, his wife of 30 years, have two sons, Nathan (wife Angi) and Jonathon (wife Inga) and two grandsons, Keyan and Austin.

This is the 26th year the IHSAA has recognized outstanding members of the Indiana news media from each of its three legislative districts for excellence in the coverage of high school sports. Ferber is the second individual to be honored this school year following Dave Calabro of WTHR-TV Channel 13 in Indianapolis, the District II recipient. District III covers 42 counties across southern Indiana.