Tackling Sports a passion for monthly Orange County group
It’s a rainy Tuesday afternoon, but the weather can’t keep nearly 50 people from packing into a room at the OASIS Senior Center in Corona del Mar.
On this day, CdM resident Scott Daruty is holding court on all things horse racing.
Daruty is the president of Monarch Content Management and Elite Turf Club. He also serves as senior vice president for Los Angeles Turf Club Inc., which operates historic Santa Anita Park racetrack.
Tom Johnson smiles as he introduces Daruty.
“We’re going to pass a bucket and everybody put the money in,” Johnson quipped. “You put it on a horse you think is going to win.”
It wouldn’t be a Tackling Sports meeting without information, questions and laughs.
The sports group is open to the public and typically meets the third Tuesday of each month at Oasis. It has grown quickly since it was started last July by former NFL referee Laird Hayes and Johnson, a former Daily Pilot publisher who now publishes the online newspaper and community forum Stu News.
The group has just three rules: No dues, no politics (unless it’s talking about a sports-related issue like LIV Golf) and everyone will be given the chance to be heard.
Hayes said he got the idea for Tackling Sports after reading a Los Angeles Times column by Bill Plaschke that details a similar group that meets weekly at Birch College in Woodland Hills.
Tackling Sports is the third name for the group, which started as Just Sports. It now has a logo courtesy of Hayes’ buddy Thom McElroy, the former surf coach at Orange Coast College.
“The name will probably stay the same, at least for another month,” Hayes said with a laugh.
The attendees of this February meeting include former OCC President Gene Farrell — Hayes is a former OCC professor and men’s soccer coach himself — as well as longtime Edison High football coach Dave White.
Hayes has plenty of connections in the community and has already planned guest speakers months in advance. He was formerly on Newport Beach’s Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission, of which Daruty’s wife, Diane, is currently a member. Diane Daruty is the race director for the annual Newport Mesa Spirit Run.
Johnson serves as moderator for the monthly Tackling Sports meeting. Last fall, the group brought in Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high school principals Jake Haley and Sean Boulton, respectively, during the week of the Battle of the Bay rivalry game.
Costa Mesa native Brett Mayne, who played as a Major League Baseball catcher for 15 years, has been another guest speaker.
“Someone asked if he was with the Royals when George Brett had his famous pine tar incident,” Johnson said. “He goes, ‘I was his roommate. Let me tell you how I got to be his roommate.’ He’s a young guy, and he goes back there and Brett takes him under his wing. I mean, it was crazy.”
Future Tackling Sports guest speakers include former Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray on March 19. On April 16, the group will welcome former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Julie Jacobs.
Hayes said one Tackling Sports attendee is a former competitive figure skater.
“At some point, I’d like her to maybe bring her coach or something like that,” he said. “Let’s talk about figure skating. How do they judge that stuff? What’s the training like? How do you make an Olympic team? I’d also love to get a race car driver in here. I know some people who know some people.”
Keeping it light is key for the group, which definitely skews older — it meets on a weekday afternoon, after all.
“[Politics] can splinter people, and that’s not what we’re here for,” Hayes said. “We’re here to have fun.”
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