Return of pro soccer to San Jose takes step forward

Bringing Major League Soccer back to San Jose took a significant step forward recently when it was announced that Oakland A’s owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher purchased a three year option with MLS to buy a soccer team and place it in the Bay Area. It will require the construction of a new soccer specific stadium to lure a team here, a challenge but certainly not impossible. A team office is being opened in downtown San Jose to work toward building a new sports facility in the area. Sometimes a city has to lose a team before the civic leadership can secure a broad enough base of community backing to support the construction of a new stadium – I think we could see this scenario play out in San Jose.

Last week the Sports Authority hosted a barbecue for the victorious Santa Clara Broncos who beat San Jose State in their annual Rivalry Series competition. Details follow about this year-long contest between the two universities, but congratulations to Dan Coonan, Santa Clara’s athletic director, the coaching and administrative staff, and the student-athletes. Tom Bowen, Dan’s counterpart at San Jose State, is committed to winning the series in the next couple of years and securing bragging rights for the Spartans.

I would like to welcome new Sports Authority board members Liz Sullivan of Silver Lake Partners and Larry Stone, Santa Clara County assessor. Liz will serve as a committee member on the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, and Larry has joined the group of community members who are selling tickets for the Grand Prix Driver VIP Party scheduled for Friday, July 29. Great to have them on our team.

Dean Munro
Executive Director

Don’t miss this opportunity to join the Sports Authority in supporting international rugby when it returns to the South Bay this weekend as USA Rugby hosts the United States pool of the Barclays Churchill Cup at Santa Clara’s Buck Shaw Stadium.

The United States, Ireland and New Zealand will play a round-robin tournament beginning with the USA-Ireland match at 2 p.m. Saturday for the right to face the winner of the Canadian pool – Canada, England and Scotland – in the June 17 final at Edmonton, Alberta’s Commonwealth Stadium.

Visit our Churchill Cup web page for full schedule information and purchase advance ticket packages here that can include food, drinks, parking and post-match VIP receptions.

The Rivalry Series Cup between Santa Clara and San Jose State universities has been won for the fourth consecutive time by Santa Clara. Dan Coonan, Broncos athletic director, accepted the trophy at a barbecue last week hosted by the Sports Authority.

Santa Clara won the Rivalry Series by defeating the Spartans in their regularly scheduled cross competitions in men’s cross-country, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, men’s golf, women’s tennis and softball. San Jose State took victories in women’s cross-country, women’s golf and women’s water polo.

A big thanks is due the companies and organizations who will participate in the The First Tee of San Jose Invitational presented by AT&T – a full day of golf, food and fun Monday, July 17 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin – which benefits The First Tee® of San Jose, the San Jose Sports Authority’s youth golf program.

A thousand youngsters will be introduced to golf and the life lessons it teaches this year as the result of this program. A few sponsorship packages remain ranging from $3,000 to $10,000. Email Tracie Morris or call (408) 288-2937 to reserve your place.

San Jose State’s Event Center will be crawling with young judo athletes this summer when USA Judo stages its 2006 National Judo Junior Olympics in San Jose.

This annual event draws the nation’s best 6- to 20-year-old judo athletes. More than 1,000 athletes plus 300 coaches as well as families and friends will attend the Saturday-Sunday, July 8-9 competition. The San Jose State Judo Team, Palo Alto Judo Club, San Jose Buddhist Judo Club and the Sports Authority are hosts for the competition.

Gary Kadach of San Jose and three friends spent Sunday at Municipal Stadium with a plate of barbecue watching the San Jose Giants play the Modesto Nuts as guests of the Sports Authority.

He was the winner of the Baseball & Barbecue giveaway in last month’s issue of SportsLines. Stay tuned to SportsLines to be eligible for future ticket giveaways to see our city’s professional sports teams.

A lot has been written lately about the Grand Prix and San Jose’s $4 million investment in the race. Below are the facts:

• $2.1 million of the $4 million stays with local public agencies including police, fire, public works, Department of Transportation and Valley Transit Authority.
• $1.9 million of the $4 million is an investment with ongoing cash returns, ongoing international visibility and ongoing economic impact for the City of San José.
• $4 million is a stimulus for economic benefits estimated at $42 million in 2005 and $500 million over the next decade.
• $4 million is how much of the San Jose Grand Prix’s own funds have already been spent on public street improvements.
• Downtown businesses benefit from exposure to 150,000 spectators over each race.
• San Jose Grand Prix has overwhelming support from all San Jose’s major business organizations and the City of San José.
  

Board member Linda Carrier is vice president, senior manager of Bank of the West. Banking and volunteer work have been the cornerstone of her 35-year career.

After graduating from Whittier College in Southern California she moved to Northern California in 1976 where she became the specialty lending officer for Bank of America focusing on aircraft lending for airlines and small commercial companies. She learned to fly, got her pilot’s license and eventually married the regional vice president of Falcon Jet. Continuing her education at PCBS and the University of Washington, she completed her graduate studies specializing in Finance/Banking. She then moved to Wells Fargo Bank, where she ran Wells Fargo University as director of branch training.

In 1995 Carrier moved to Bank of the West where she is a vice president, senior manager.

While maintaining her career she also was director of the Santa Clara County Fair for more than 12 years, executive director of the Miss California Scholarship Pageants, and was involved with local politics. Her ultimate satisfaction came from successfully raising her daughter, Christina Carrier, who shares in many of the volunteer activities with her. Linda is also a board member of the Happy Hollow Corp., volunteer coordinator for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and Team Captain for the San Jose Holiday Parade.