Santa Clara County Sports Digest

As thousands of scorned A’s fans lament what appears to be the imminent end of the team’s playing days in Oakland, the organization's many past dalliances with relocation have come under a renewed spotlight.

Santa Clara City Attorney Glen Googins commented on the status of obtaining documents needed for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held at Levi’s Stadium: “I feel a heck of lot better than I did 45 days ago.”

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home to the San Francisco 49ers, will host Super Bowl 60 in 2026 a decade after it hosted Super Bowl 50.

Plans to revamp the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds into a sports and recreation facility have been progressing for more than a year, but it's unclear when shovels will hit the ground.

The San Jose Swim & Racquet Club, which has operated for nearly seven decades, appears likely to be sold, demolished and redeveloped with dozens of townhomes.

The 49ers want another run at hosting the Super Bowl less than a decade after bringing the championship game to Santa Clara.

Pickleball has been attracting a great deal of local interest since the city of Milpitas launched a pilot program for the sport nearly six months ago.

The winningest football coach in the university's history announced plans to spend time with his family.

The nine-lane running track will be built on a parcel at the SC County Fairgrounds; the finished project will cost nearly $30 million. SJSU hopes to revive the track and field legacy of Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos, whose statues are on the SJSU quad.

Northern California’s Cyril Derreumaux has become the second person to solo kayak from the American coast to Hawaii.

The Big Ten has reached seven-year agreements with Fox, CBS and NBC to share the rights to the conference’s football and basketball games. The deals go into effect in 2023, expire in 2030 and eventually will allow the conference’s soon-to-be 16 member universities to share more than $1 billion per year.

Women’s athletics at Stanford University have come a long way since Title IX became federal law in 1972. In honor of the law’s 50th anniversary, Stanford Athletics has nominated its first all-female class of inductees to its Hall of Fame. They will officially join in September.

Assemblymember Ash Kalra has requested $25 million from the state Legislature to use land at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds for the San Jose State University Speed City Legacy Center and Track and Field Training Facility. The 9-acre project will be a partnership with Santa Clara County and SJSU.

The Cougars’ Kingsley Okoronkwo (triple jump) and Melia Middleton (300-meter hurdles) earned berths to the CIF State Championships May 27-28, and they’ll be joined by para athletes Ashton Pluckhan, Ella Rodriguez, Isabella Browne and Sydney Saulo.

A local pickleball group is requesting designated courts from the city of Milpitas. The area currently has zero designated courts, as opposed to nearby San Jose, which has more than 50.

Brigham Young University defeated Santa Clara in penalties during a semifinal match. They will now advance to the College Cup finale being held in Santa Clara.

Viva Calle, an annual San Jose bicycle riding event, lengthened its routes this year to include Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. As cycling enthusiasm continues to grow, the South Bay is ready to welcome riders.

The firing of Santa Clara city attorney Brian Doyle leaves the city poised for major political changes, including a shift in its divisive relationship with the San Francisco 49ers.

The 37th annual Palo Alto Weekly Moonlight Run & Walk is moving back to its longtime home at the Baylands for in-person races on Sept. 17 following a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

When the Live Oak and Los Gatos football teams clash in Morgan Hill, they’ll be playing for something far greater in the first-ever football game to raise funds for Coaches Against Cancer, a nonprofit founded by Wildcats coach Mark Krail.

Veteran sports journalists Rick Eymer and Glenn Reeves are launching Peninsula Preps Playbook, a twice-a-week digital newsletter that will cover prep sports in the region.

Gilroy High football coach Tim Pierleoni, who returned to his alma mater after spending 11 seasons on the sideline as the Christopher High coach, said the team’s strengths revolve around its defense and quarterback.

Gilroy native Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero came out of retirement three years ago to compete for a championship belt. A win against Victor Ortiz in a 10-round welterweight boxing match on Saturday in Las Vegas would go a long way toward that goal.

Hundreds of bike enthusiasts will compete Sept. 25 in the first-ever Heart of Gold, a 55-mile gravel course race through the Gold Country aimed at raising awareness and funds for mental wellness programs for youth in Nevada County. The race, which begins in Nevada City, should draw as many as 400 racers from around the state.

Victoria Hayward, who was born in Toronto and moved to Mountain View at age 8, went through a lot to win her Olympic bronze medal as part of the Canadian women’s softball team.

San Jose Sharks trade goalie Josef Kolenar for Hill, a veteran of 49 games with the Phoenix based hockey team.

Gilroy is furthering a deal with the San Jose Sharks to create a 100,000-square-foot facility in Sports Park. Mayor Marie Blankley calls the proposed facility “a game changer.”

Mountain View native Timothy Lam started swinging a badminton racket when he was 4 years old. Nearly 20 years later, Lam will be a member of the United States Olympic team.

Robyn Stevens, a graduate of San Jose State, is headed to the Olympics to compete in the sport of race walking, 17 years after an eating disorder ended an earlier pursuit of Olympic gold.

A couple of years ago, Stanford students Alex Friedman and Sasha Landauer became frustrated at the limited options for selling and reselling gear; from that came the idea for Switchbackr, an online platform for selling used outdoors gear.

Gilroy High School’s Mustangs baseball team made history, winning in its game against Pacific Grove in 10 innings to earn the team its first Central Coast Section championship.

Juan Miguel Moreno, a Taekwondo legend and Olympic coach, spent some time earlier this month teaching at the Blue Dragon Taekwondo Academy. Mayor Rich Tran presented Moreno with the keys to the city.