Lessons Learned in a Pandemic

Lessons Learned in a Pandemic

San Jose was on the brink of another tremendous year of fantastic sporting events returning to the South Bay. These events included international soccer featuring the US National Teams, National Collegiate Judo Championship, American Junior Golf National Championship Qualifier, USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, the Premier Lacrosse League Tournament, Rock-n-Roll Races & Health Expo, the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, US Figure Skating National Championships, US Figure Skating High Performance Development Camp, USA Fencing Jr. Olympics, NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, and finishing ’21 with the NCAA Women’s College Cup. These events are designed to draw the masses to our venues, hotels and the downtown region. Meanwhile, medical voices continue to suggest the coronavirus and its impact might be around for years.

You wonder what goes through our mind when we hear that.

We try to be focused on what we can control and what we can influence relying on the guidance of our City, County and State Public Health officials and leaders. Sure, there’s anxiety around the uncertainty. We’re not alone in that boat. We’re sort of all in this together. I know that’s the campaign going on right now, but it rings very true. Nothing about this virus has taken away from our mission to make San Jose and our region the premier sports destination on the West Cost. We’re focused on making the 2021 year exceptional. So, the goal doesn’t change. How we were going to do that has likely changed. That’s the challenge in front of us.

Such as … how do you stage a big event, when the catchphrase of our times is social distancing?

What this process has definitely done is force us to adapt and to understand how we can continue to have an impact under these conditions. The models which were in place were dependent upon crowds, traveling, air traffic—that needs to be reevaluated. Anytime you’re changing models, it comes with an element of anxiety. But you’d better adapt and figure out what needs to change, in order for your mission to be successful.

The Sports Authority are fortunate to have been able to lean on the advice of our local sports leaders with the formation of our COVID19 Sports Advisory Committee. Led by industry sports icon Andy Dolich, our committee consists of;

·       Andy Dolich, Committee Chair, Dolich Consulting

·       Jamie Breslin of Stanford Athletics

·       Anne Warner Cribbs of the BASOC

·       Charlie Faas, Chairman of the Board, San Jose Sports Authority

·       James Hamnett of the San Jose Sharks, SAP Center & Solar4America Ice

·       Jacqueline Rochelle Lopez of Team San Jose/Visit San Jose

·       Jed Mettee of the San Jose Earthquakes

·       Jim Mercurio of the San Francisco 49ers & Levi’s Stadium

·       Duane Morgan & David Grissom of the Central Coast Section of the CIF

·       Dan Orum of the San Jose Giants

·       Marie Tuite of San Jose State Athletics

·       Aaron Woliczko of the West Coast Conference

·       Jamie Zaninovich of the PAC 12

This group has been meeting twice a month sharing the latest developments and best practices in preparing to bring our sports to the “return to play” phase. Their shared sense of community spirit and leadership is our North Star. We know a lot of changes will be made for the future of sporting events, but I truly believe that San Jose and the South Bay sports community are fortunate to have the guidance and leadership from this very special group during the most challenging of times. Plenty of lessons to learn from a pandemic.

Be Well, Stay Safe and Be Positive.