National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Pete Cava's passion for sports and media dates back to his youth on Staten Island, New York. Growing up, he played a lot of sandlot baseball – mostly as a first baseman/outfielder – and was a defensive end on his high school junior varsity football team. He also wrote for the school newspaper and was part of the student radio workshop. At Fordham University, he worked in the sports information department. Later, while serving in the U.S. Army, he served in the 1st infantry division's public affairs office at Fort Riley, Kansas.

After leaving military service, Pete had stints as a sports reporter and as a radio program director before joining the Amateur Athletic Union's staff in 1974. Following two years with the AAU Junior Olympics program, he took over AUU's media information department and headed AAU's press operations at numerous events. He was in charge of media services at the 1978 World Weightlifting Championships, and 1979 World Wrestling  Championships, and the 1979 World Cup Boxing event. Under his guidance, the AAU began a series of media guides for sports, including track and field.

Pete became one of the original staff members of USA Track and Field when the organization began operations in 1979  (as the Athletics Congress). He was in charge of press operations at many national and international track events including five U.S. Olympic trials and in 1987 World Indoor Championships. He also served as chief of media services for U.S. Teams at the first five World Outdoor Championships.

In 1999 Pete formed International Sports Associates, a writing, research, and public relations firm. The same year he served as a press officer at the World University Games and the Pan American Games. In in 2006 Peter served as media liaison for Team Italy at the inaugural World Baseball Classic. From 1999 to 2001 he also worked part-time in the sports department of the Indianapolis Star.

In 2000 Pete began writing or the National Scholastic Sports Foundation, contributing feature stories and previews for NSSF's website and providing event–by–event coverage of the Nike Indoor Nationals and the Nike Outdoor Nationals. “Covering these events is a great experience,” he said. “It's Like having a sneak preview of America's future Olympians.”

Pete has authored two published books– Mom's Handy Book of Backyard Games and Tales from the Cubs Dugout. He now is working on a four-book project about Indiana's native major league baseball players. His articles and essays concerning Olympic sports and baseball have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. He serves as a correspondent for the wire service Agence France Presse.

A veteran of five Olympics – two as a reporter, three as a network television researcher, Pete is a member of the Track and Field Writers of America, the Association of Track and Field Statisticians, and the International Society of Olympic Historians. He has served on the public relations committee of the international Association of Athletics Federations and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Pete and his wife, Molly, reside in Indianapolis. They have a son, Andy, and a daughter, Nancy.

Thank you, Pete, for your hard work and for your great action for the sport of track and field!