TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Zoom has emerged from the coronavirus pandemic as a way for people to connect, and for Athletic Directors in the Big Bend, it's become a way to enhance their careers.
"I had two great fears," said Jake von Scherrer, the athletic director Maclay School. "One is that no one would show up, and the other was that we'd have so many that we'd crash the internet."
Jake von Scherrer is also the president of the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Administrator's Association.
"As the president-elect, your job is to organize the State Athletic Director Conference," said von Scherrer.
The conference in Orlando was canceled thanks to the coronavirus, but von Scherrer had an idea. Why not move the conference's scheduled speakers to Zoom?
"Through word of mouth, we've gotten AD's from literally across the country to present, and also tune in," von Scherrer said.
Almost eighty a day, opening up discussion to an audience more far-reaching than they ever would have had in Orlando.
"It's been great," said von Scherrer. "I've enjoyed it, and I'm very happy to have been able to put it together and present. We've had Nebraska last week, we have Illinois this week, and Florida as well."
A chance to converse with like minds.
"I think it's two fold," von Scherrer said. "If you just get one good idea from a presentation, it was successful. It's also gratifying because if you've done something at your school and you hear an expert say, 'well, this is what we do and it's the exact same,' it's satisfying for you and you can say,' wow, maybe that wasn't such a crazy idea!'"
Sometimes, crazy ideas are the best ones.
von Scherrer said the Zoom conferences wrap up this Friday, but they may continue in the future if the interest from other athletic directors is there.
And in things that are just so 2020, Rob Gronkowski is coming out of retirement to join his former quarterback Tom Brady at Tampa Bay.
The Bucs traded a fourth-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft to the New England Patriots in exchange for Gronk and a seventh-round selection.
The Bucs released a statement Tuesday night saying, in part, "what really makes him special is the fact that he's a proven winner who brings that championship mindset and work ethic."
