Rebounding from a pandemic

Two-day series The Cedar Point Sports Center: looking back at its first year, in 2020, and looking ahead to its second year, 2021. Part 1: 2020 (Below) Part 2: 2021 SANDUSKY — Cedar Point Sports Center operators never envisioned they would need to draw up a game plan to defend against an overwhelming opponent like the pandemic. But, after calling numerous audibles, they still consider their rookie season a success. Prior to the pandemic, in January 2020, they debuted their $42 million indoor state-of-the-art complex. Taking center stage is the 145,000-square-foot playing area. It primarily caters to youth athletes, near and far, who compete in basketball, volleyball, wrestling, soccer, gymnastics, dancing, cheerleading, pickleball and more. The pandemic quickly dampened lofty expectations after a center-wide closure and, later upon reopening in late June, tight restrictions on public access. Operators, however, believe they've rebounded nicely from a challenging 2020 and are well-prepared for a prosperous 2021. Wes Hall, the center's general manager, spoke with the Register on his facility's initial year of operations: Q: After opening in January 2020, what were your proudest achievements over the next year? Hall: In a pandemic world, the judgment of success is altered. On March 13, 2020, our goals changed. Within just a few weeks, the center partnered with other affiliated venues to create a COVID-19 task force dedicated to creating policies and protocols for sports venues across the country. These policies helped guide many venues, including the center, to reopening while providing a healthy environment for athletes and spectators. With sports shut down, we turned our attention to serving the community. With ample space for social distancing, we partnered with Firelands Regional Medical Center and the American Red Cross to host multiple blood drives. The year 2020 was not without sports. The center hosted over 20 events and five summer camps. But for us to reopen, it was a team effort. Our successful reopening is due to the hard work and cooperation on part of my staff, Cedar Point, Sports Facilities Management, the Erie County Health Department and our event owners. With limitations placed on local and regional schools, we partnered with districts to host practices, games and league play. Out of necessity, we built relationships and cemented the venue as a valuable community asset. Q: Why did you turn your attention to serving the community in terms of hosting blood drives? Hall: As sports, and furthermore indoor sports, were halted across the state, our venue sat dormant. Without serving our primary purpose, the conversation turned to alternate uses. Similar in concept, though now in scale, to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, we turned our attention to serving the community. With space at Firelands Regional Medical Center at an absolute premium, the Cedar Point Sports Center provided the necessary space to conduct safe blood drives during a time of need. Our venue does not just serve the youth sports tourism industry, it also serves our community. Q: With the pandemic in play, what were the challenges you experienced in 2020? Hall: The pandemic created uncertainty. We knew our industry would bounce back, but when? For our staff, we stopped planning for today and continually turned our focus to tomorrow. Once we were permitted to reopen and welcome athletes back to the venue, the organizational process changed significantly. The standard flow for volleyball, basketball and wrestling was altered. For each event, a new operations plan had to be created. New processes necessitated new training and new protocols necessitated the need for additional staffing. Venue layout reconfiguration was needed to relieve stressed or otherwise crowded areas. Q: What do you mean by "the organizational process changed significantly"? And what do you mean by "the standard flow … was altered"? Hall: There is a standard operating procedure involved in event planning and execution. COVID changed that process via Ohio Department of Health orders to, at first, require petitioning for the ability to host camps, clinics and events to requiring thorough COVID (operating plans) for each event, which at times exceeded 20 pages per event. Each event that we host, be it a basketball tournament, volleyball tournament or a trade show, all have a standard layout or flow. COVID made us re-evaluate the layout of every event hosted based on the numbers of teams, both active and inactive, and the flow of patrons to ensure proper social distancing. Now every detail, from the match schedule to ticket inventory, has to be scrutinized to ensure we are providing the safest possible environment. Q: How can you reconfigure the venue? Hall: Reconfiguration of the venue is dependent on the event. This includes reducing usable courts by 50% for some events, splitting the venue north and south for others and, in some cases, mandating use of the mezzanine for spectators to create additional space on the floor. Q: How was the center negatively impacted in 2020? Hall: With great fanfare and expectation, (the center) opened on Jan. 11, 2020. On March 13, 2020, the venue closed its doors as we entered into the pandemic. COVID caused an obvious disruption to our event calendar. Between March and December, over 40 events were canceled. Would we be able to recreate that same excitement, the same feeling of competing in a new facility? Only time will tell. Q: Upon reopening, what did the center do to protect people from contracting and/or spreading the disease? Hall: Guest safety is our highest priority. (The center) follows all CDC, state and local guidelines in order to operate. This includes additional signage, hand sanitizer stations, cleaning and sanitizing protocols and enforcement of state mask mandates. The center reconfigured the water fountains to only accommodate touchless bottle refills and increased air circulation to turn over the air at a higher rate. Guests are also asked to conduct a self-health assessment before entering the building. Q: What restrictions carried over from 2020 into 2021 to comply with social distancing guidelines? Hall: (The center) has instituted spectator capacity limits for the venue and works with event owners to determine the appropriate number of spectators per athlete to ensure capacity is not exceeded. In addition to the capacity limits, spectator seating is mapped per event and spread out to encourage social distancing. Our standard capacity is over 4,300. Currently, the state permits 300 spectators, not including athletes and coaches. When we are able to split the venue, we are permitted to host 300 spectators on the south side of the venue and 300 on the north side. Q: Is the center in any sort of financial trouble due to the pandemic or other factors? Hall: As with every sports venue across the country, the pandemic created unforeseen challenges, however, with a tremendous amount of hard work, (the center) is set for a successful 2021.