Palm Beach North Sports - June 2022

J u n e 2 0 2 2 | P A L M B E A C H N O R T H SPORTS 15 COMMUNITY CORNER those last 50 years. While entirely subjective, the criteria for these national moments focused on events that “drive changes in perception and expectation.” The professors noted the following: “As sports has shifted--economically, politically, socially, technologically, professionally, and even in personality--over time, there are moments that define and determine the sports industry and its management today and tomorrow. These dimensions are interrelated and they provide checks and balances on each other. Our focus here prioritizes the social. It is the social dimension that inevitably provides the checks and balances in periods when the economics, the politics, the technology, and the professional behaviors challenge our ethics." While most of the breakthrough moments occurred regionally, their impacts were felt globally. That is, they crossed geographic boundaries and affected global standards. For example, while the World Anti-Doping Agency has maintained standards for use of performance-enhancing substances in sports around the world since the turn of the millennium, the outcome of MLB's "Steroid Era" and the media attention around it opened public awareness and discussion on a level that gave sport governing bodies the courage to take greater responsibility for providing people with the type of product they expected from games, matches, and competitions. "This list of breakthrough moments calls attention to social and cultural moments that had an impact on the economies, politics, technology, and management of the sports industry. It is intended to provoke discussion, illuminate the history of sports, and provide a framework for recording history as it is being made. This is about athletics in a societal context, which is important for sports business professionals and sports business students to understand in terms of their own responsibility to the field and impact in and beyond it." As regions across the country respect their history and celebrate their sports business traditions, the methodology behind the 50 national breakthrough moments provides a useful template to guide each process. It is incredibly exciting to inspire a process that will allow Palm Beach County to identify its top sports business "defining/ memorable/breakthrough moments" as well. Simultaneously, Pat Rooney and I have come together to Co-Chair and create The Sports Business Club of the Palm Beaches, the first of its kind in the region to celebrate and explore all components of the 50 years of the sports business in the Palm Beaches. The first five events featured local sports and economic development leaders; the golf business; the football business; baseball in South Florida; and the basketball business at the college and professional level. The Sports Business Club will continue to collaborate with the inspiring vision of the Palm Beach Post to identify and prioritize the top 50 defining/memorable/breakthrough moments. This partnership "produces a perfect storm" to honor the long-overdue history and tradition of Palm Beach sports, celebrate the positive economic and social benefits from these events, and chart a positive course that will enhance the future of sports development in the region. Palm Beach Soccer Cup Tournament May 6-8, 2022 Photos Courtesy of Stephanie Stoloff Adonte Jakusik from Wellington SC - Winner of the Dan Borislow Award which goes to the most outstanding male player of the tournament (Gary Walker, Executive Tournament Director presenting the trophy) Victoria Manguno from Fort Lauderdale Select FC - Winner of the Mary Jo McCool Award which goes to the most outstanding female player of the tournament (Nelly Pallage, Tournament Director is in the black. Kelsey McCool - Daughter of Mary Jo McCool is in the red)