A Letter from Sport Oregon CEO JIm Etzel
With the holiday season upon us and the new year fast approaching, it is my pleasure to write to you today, on behalf of the team at Sport Oregon, to express my gratitude for your ongoing support of the organization, especially this past year. It truly has been an incredible year at Sport Oregon, on many levels. It’s also a time to reflect on our collective accomplishments in 2021, celebrate our many achievements, and look forward to the bright future that lies ahead, in 2022 and beyond.
When reflecting on Sport Oregon’s accomplishments and growth in 2021, it truly has been a transformational year. We moved the chains, to borrow a football analogy. The organization realized a host of big wins and there is an impressive (and growing) list of significant events we can all look forward to in 2022, including the NCAA Tournament men’s first and second round games in Portland (March), NASCAR’s return to Portland International Raceway (June), the Oregon22 World Championships in Eugene (July), the IRONMAN 70.3 Oregon held in Salem (July), the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Grand Prix of Portland (September) and the Portland Classic (September). Beyond next year, we are thrilled to host the Sports ETA 2024 Symposium in Portland, welcoming more than 700 sports events and tourism leaders to our city.
In our business, planning is everything. But sometimes the sporting event of a lifetime presents itself seemingly at a moment’s notice. To wit, we embraced the opportunity to support the 2021 MLS Cup played this past weekend at Providence Park, just across the street. What a thrill it was to watch the Portland Timbers during their amazing run through the playoffs, which resulted in the team hosting MLS Cup for the first time. It was an equal thrill for us to help maximize the impact of the game in our community and truly make it a showcase for the sport, right here in Soccer City, USA.
As we turn the page to 2022, we’re also energized by reimagining and growing a number of our existing initiatives and events. In particular, we look forward to building on our foundation’s “SHE FLIES” initiative that launched this past spring. It is a platform we believe has unlimited potential in addressing the ever-growing need to support girls and women in sports and fitness by continuing to break down barriers to play.
With a longstanding connection to the Oregon Sports Awards, we are pleased with the structural changes we’ve made to this annual awards event this year. We have moved away from a singular-event format and now will split the high school awards into their own Oregon Sports Awards. The OSA’s still will have the same core mission, but we are now able to recognize the rising stars of each season upon their conclusion, giving these awards a bigger platform and celebrating the many outstanding achievements in a more relevant and timely fashion.
Additionally, we have rebranded the longstanding Northwest Shootout in partnership with the Sport Oregon Foundation, the Maurice Lucas Foundation and Portland Gear. Now WAVOR (Washington vs. Oregon), the traditional event that features the top boys and girls high school basketball players for both states will be elevated to have an even greater impact in our community. And we are delighted to enter the next chapter of our Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon, including a new partnership and scenic location in Independence, Ore.
Another big focus of our year ahead will be to continue to grow our “Fuel the Future” fundraising event. We were very pleased with the support received during the second iteration of the event held recently and look forward to continuing to make a difference when it comes to breaking down barriers to play and empowering youth in underserved communities to build valuable life skills through sport. The most recent “Fuel the Future” helped raise funds for the Sport Oregon Youth Series, the organization’s youth track and field program that helps kids build confidence and character by offering free meets in more than 15 communities across the state.
None of these substantial accomplishments would be possible without the contributions from the growing number of talented individuals that make up our team. To that end, we added a number of key positions to our staff in 2021. Over the past year, we welcomed Damian Williams as our first Sports Tourism Development Manager, Cory Hansen as our first Digital Marketing Manager, and most recently, Nathan Nayman, who will head up our external affairs efforts. With an expanded team in place, we have gone out and delivered results, despite the tough circumstances that have affected all of us for far too long now.
We will never rest on our laurels, but we now, more than ever, have an even more important seat at the table, so to speak, as conveyors, connectors and strategists when it comes to sports and events in our state. Our success and growth has come from building our staff and infrastructure, creating new areas of funding and support, and through the support and contributions from our talented board membership. Our focus on building on this foundation and delivering results will never change. Because, ultimately, sports matter to the vibrancy of every community in our great state, producing positive effects on our quality of life and driving substantial economic impact.
Looking back at all of our collective accomplishments over the last year, and as we gear up for an even more impactful 2022 and beyond, we are grateful for everyone’s support of Sport Oregon, and we wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season, and a Happy New Year!
