A program devoted to the business of sports currently streaming at Itoc Italian on the Itoc Media network. On this limited bi-weekly series, we’ll examine how business owners in the Canadian sports industry faced the challenges posed by Covid-19 and how they’ve been able to mitigate the financial damage and project towards a positive path forward.
This week, I’m speaking with Frank Iaizzo, the founder and athletic director of International FC, a Greater Toronto area soccer academy that operates grassroots programs, camps, clinics and assists players with trials and scholarship opportunities.
With his many connections to clubs and contacts overseas, Frank anticipated the pending Covid 19 crisis early in 2020 even before it was classified as a pandemic.
Guided by the principle of sharing information and being transparent with his academy members and parents, Frank was able to minimize the impact of forced lockdowns and limited participation numbers by offering tangible solutions through virtual meetings and roundtable discussions that kept his members informed and involved and reassured the community at large.
As cancellations and postponements decimated a normally hectic spring and summer schedule, Frank stayed patient and trusted the process that would eventually allow some activity to resume as the year progressed.
Here is a link to my interview with Frank Iaizzo: http://italian.itoc.ca/podcast/itoc-italian-sports-031-sporttrategies/
If you have a sports business story you’d like to share, connect with me at sportstrategies2016@gmail.com.
Sport$trategies 