U.S. figure skating championships moved from San Jose to Las Vegas
SAN JOSE — Another South Bay sporting event has been lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Figure Skating announced Monday that it will move its marquee national championships from San Jose to Las Vegas. The event still is scheduled to be held Jan. 11-17 but it is now planned for Orleans Arena, which last month successfully played host to the ISU Grand Prix competition Skate America.
Skating officials also announced that San Jose would hold the 2023 championships instead of next year.
“This has been a season unlike any other, and we’re appreciative of our local organizers and the skating community in San Jose for their willingness to be flexible during these challenging times,” U.S. Figure Skating president Anne Cammett said in a statement.
John Poch, San Jose Sports Authority executive director, said Monday the move was inevitable because of local public health department guidelines.
“The only thing we could plan for were the guidelines in place today,” he said. “I can’t guess what the scenario will be in two months now.”
Santa Clara County health officials Monday emphasized the need to follow safety protocols of social distancing and wearing face coverings after seeing an increase in novel coronavirus cases over the weekend.
County officials reported that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Sunday increased by nearly 10%. Such trends could lead to a restriction of activities after a slow re-opening began last month.
San Jose organizers had hoped to capitalize on Bay Area performers eying the 2022 Winter Olympics. The biggest star is Alysa Liu, a two-time reigning senior national champion from Richmond. The others are 2018 Olympians Karen Chen of Fremont and Vincent Zhou of Palo Alto and promising ice dancer Anthony Ponomarenko of Morgan Hill.
Organizers also held out hopes of having spectators. But concerns grew as the event drew closer.
“Forget about the fans,” Poch said. “Can we get all the competitors, and figure skating staff and the NBC crew” in the facility?
Poch said holding the championships was complicated by being indoors unlike the San Francisco 49ers and San Jose Earthquakes. The 49ers and Earthquakes have held home games this year without fans after getting county approval in late summer.
The move to Las Vegas also forced the cancelation of a new high-performance camp for about 200 young skaters at Solar4America Ice in San Jose.
American skating officials this year created the National Development Camp for juvenile, intermediate and novice athletes instead of having them compete at the U.S. championships.
Poch said the South Bay has lost 13 sports events this year because of the global pandemic. The other marquee event was a soccer game in April at Earthquakes Stadium featuring the U.S. women’s national team against Brazil.
Some of the other postponed or canceled events involved judo, fencing and water polo youth championships, he said.
San Jose also might have had a chance to play host to a men’s 2022 World Cup qualifier this fall but CONCACAF officials changed the schedule because of COVID-19 issues.
The relocation announcement also leads to questions for the San Jose Sharks. After all, if the SAP Center can’t hold an ice skating event, then how can hockey games be played there?
NHL and the NHL Players’ Association officials said last month they are targeting Jan. 1 as a possible start to the season. Poch said his group is working with the Sharks on creating protocols for county approval.
In the case of figure skating, the relocation move made sense, officials said. Orleans Arena can create a “bubble” environment, they said. The skaters stay in a block of hotel rooms at the resort. They can take private elevators to the rink as well as enter the facility from a private entrance.
Also, the championships will not have spectators like Skate America, officials said.
Now San Jose is scheduled to play host to the championships a year after the Beijing Winter Games. Poch said he expects to have increased interest in 2023, particularly if Americans do well in Beijing.
“It’s a best-case scenario for us,” Poch said. “The pandemic was going to be a challenge for our city and region.”
Organizers also announced Monday that refunds will be issued to ticket holders for the San Jose event. If a credit card or debit card number has changed or expired customers should contact SAP Center at grouptickets@sharkssports.net, officials said.