United States Merchant Marine Academy

John Kelly Jr. enters his third year as Assistant Sports Information Director with the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Athletic Department in 2026-27. He joined the Athletic Communications team at Kings Point in November 2024.
 
In this role, Kelly assists with the day-to-day communications, media relations, and promotional efforts for all 19 NCAA varsity programs at the Academy, and helps maintain and update the department's official website, USMMASports.com. He designs gameday graphics, schedule releases, and awards graphics highlighting player, coach, and program achievements across all department social media channels.
 
Kelly also produces digital content for the Athletic Department's video displays at Tomb Field and the Sue Petersen Lubow Pool, as well as the digital scorer's table in Liebertz Gymnasium. He serves as a media contact for Kings Point Athletics, working closely with coaches, campus leadership, conference offices, vendors, and media partners to help enhance the visibility of the Academy's athletic programs at the local, regional, and national levels.
 
In addition to his communications responsibilities, Kelly assists with live streaming and game-day production, supervises student workers, and contributes creatively to department publications and special projects. For the 2025 Secretaries' Cup at Fenway Park, he designed the event's promotional announcement release graphic and additional ticket sales graphics.
 
Prior to joining the Academy, Kelly Jr. served as the Sports Information Director for the Borough of Manhattan Community College for three years. During his time in Manhattan, he oversaw all creative services, live video streaming of home events, and graphic design for the school's 13 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) programs, along with leading the redesign of the BMCC Athletics website. He also helped secure television coverage on WPIX 11 for the program's first USTFCCCA All-American, Lea Reimer.
 
Before joining BMCC, Kelly Jr. was Director of Sports Information at Monroe-Bronx during the 2021-22 season, serving as the primary media contact for the department's 17 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) teams. He helped build the Monroe Express YouTube channel through live streaming of home contests, and helped promote the Express's first-ever men's and women's basketball NJCAA Tournament appearances on News 12 Bronx.
 
From 2013 to 2018, Kelly served as the play-by-play broadcaster for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on the USMMA Sports Network. He announced five Skyline Championships during his tenure, including the program's first-ever women's lacrosse title in 2018, back-to-back women's basketball and lacrosse championships in 2019, the men's lacrosse Skyline title in 2018, and the men's soccer Skyline crown in 2016. He also called the program's first-ever baseball Skyline Championship in 2021.
 
Kelly's 2023-24 graphic design portfolio was honored as Designer of the Year by College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) in one of two Best Of categories for two-year colleges. He was one of 210 individuals from the College Division for Division II, Division III, the NAIA, two-year schools, high school members, and Canadian Institutions to receive the honor.
 
A Glen Ridge, N.J. native, Kelly earned his Master's in Sports Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2013 and his Bachelor's in Communications from Fordham University in 2009.
 
Kelly Jr. resides in Greenwich, Conn., with his wife Alexandra and their son Theodore.