Today is both a sad day as well as the opportunity to begin something new. We leave Island Garden after 26 years with incredible memories. We are starting a new path to save what we have built. I strongly believe that my team and I have always worked hard, were honest and always tried to help others. The problems we have encountered in the past year have forced us to be better and pursue new opportunities. Coach K always taught you to remain poised in the post, handle double team pressure and never let your opponent upset you. That is exactly what we are doing.
I want to make one thing very clear. We are being forced to move because the property owner found someone to pay 50% higher monthly rent. I have met all financial obligations for 26 years. There are “haters” out there saying we “lost the place” with the inference that we did not pay the rent as required. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We are ready to handle everything that is being thrown at us. We are fully prepared to move on and do what was next. We are now ready to put our next plan into place and then implement this larger and tremendous plan. We followed the strategic approach, “what if, then we will.” Several months ago, we began preparing in several ways to address the loss of the Island Garden. We pursued two very important paths. First, we entered multiple partnerships with court operators to use their facilities to operate our leagues, tournaments, clinics, camps, Lightning practices and our many rentals. We were successful in working with great partners. We will be playing at the Rising Stars Facility, the Field House at Massapequa, Chabad of Port Washington, JCC of Great Neck, The Cove, SUNY Old Westbury, LIU at CW Post, Waldorf School, Trinity Lutheran Church, Next Level, St. Dominic High School, St. Bernard’s Church, Roosevelt School District, St. Ignatius, Mill Neck School for the Deaf, Northsport and the MAC. As the result of our foresight, we have more courts to work with now than ever before. We are prepared to release a full calendar of events which includes our Fall League, several weekend tournaments, clinics and so much more. We will not miss a step!
The second part of our strategic plan is to acquire a home base where we will build the most impressive sports facility in the New York area. We hope to make a huge announcement about that plan very shortly.
We have created our own momentum for over thirty years and my great team, and I have no intention of doing anything different now.
We have already announced our Fall League plans. This week we are releasing the Fall tournament schedule as well as our training opportunities. (Special note to our Little Lightning players and parents, Coach Fox is making sure his special program gets first choice of location and times).
In closing, we are not going anywhere and, just like we did after the pandemic, we are emerging bigger and stronger than ever. We have been around for decades and plan to be here for many more years.
Please watch our social media and www.islandgarden.com website for daily announcements.
Jim Fox Sr.
