The event marked the seventh Special Olympics Floor Hockey Game hosted by the Sharks, further celebrating the long-standing partnership with Special Olympics Northern California and its continued commitment to creating inclusive opportunities through sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis event is an annual tradition that is beloved by the Sharks organization. Our players, coaches, and staff genuinely enjoy spending their Saturday with these amazing athletes and engaging in a friendly, unified competition,\u201d said Stephanie Dubin Combo, Community Relations Manager. \u201cYou\u2019ll notice many of the players have come to the event several years in a row \u2014 that is something really special about this event. And this year we were able to include athletes all the way from Tuolumne County to expand the reach of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December, the Sharks Foundation and presenting partner Kaiser Permanente awarded Special Olympics Northern California a $25,000 Community Assist Grant at its regional tournament in Pleasanton. The funding will support operational costs for the 2026 floor hockey program, positively impacting more than 400 athletes and coaches across the region. At the event in January, the Sharks Foundation also announced that this support will extend through 2027, with additional details to be shared in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment through the Sharks Foundation\u2019s Community Assist Grant, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, reflects our shared commitment to expanding inclusive access to sport,\u201d said Kevin Brown, Executive Director of the Sharks Foundation and Head of Community Impact for Sharks Sports & Entertainment. \u201cThe support will help sustain Special Olympics Northern California\u2019s floor hockey program for more than 400 athletes and coaches, creating opportunities for confidence, connection, and wellness through the game. We are proud to extend this partnership through 2027 and continue building spaces where everyone can experience the joy of hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The event marked the seventh Special Olympics Floor Hockey Game hosted by the Sharks, further celebrating the long-standing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-204214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-san-jose","9":"tag-san-jose-headlines","10":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}