VOICES: Our sports teams help us appreciate our communities

Judge Anthony Capizzi is a Montgomery County Juvenile Court judge and was a Dayton City Commissioner from 1986 to 1998. (CONTRIBUTED)

Judge Anthony Capizzi is a Montgomery County Juvenile Court judge and was a Dayton City Commissioner from 1986 to 1998. (CONTRIBUTED)

I grew up in Rochester, New York. Since the age of five, my dad would take my brother and me to watch the Rochester Red Wings baseball games. These are some of my best memories; I could see the team pride and how the game brought people of varying backgrounds and socioeconomic levels together. I appreciated, as I got older, how the baseball stadium and the game itself brought people together downtown; a place where suburbanites might not normally visit. I see this same sense of community togetherness in Dayton, Ohio where the development of the Dayton Dragons has brought people from all over into the heart of Dayton’s downtown. In more recent weeks, I have seen tremendous comradery as locals cheer on the Cincinnati Bengals as we approach the Super Bowl.

I came to Ohio in 1975 to attend law school at the University of Dayton. I’ll admit, when I arrived, Frigidaire was shutting down and things in town seemed pretty bad. In 1986, I was elected as City Commissioner and in 1989 I first presented my idea of bringing a minor league baseball team to Dayton. My proposal first made the DDN on Super Bowl Sunday and (rightly so) was buried deep in the sports section.

Years later, my vision for the people of Dayton was finally taking shape and in 2000, the Dayton Dragons became a reality. While I can’t take credit for the design of the Dragons’ stadium, I was involved in the group that pushed to hire the same firm, HOK Sports, that designed Camden Yards in the Warehouse District of Baltimore (the most beautiful stadium in the country, if you ask me). I remember seeing downtown Baltimore – with all its rundown buildings and warehouses – go from a community in trouble to a real local jewel after the development of the Oriole’s stadium. I envisioned the same transformation for downtown Dayton and hoped our community would see economic growth. After almost two decades, the northeast quadrant of downtown Dayton wouldn’t be what it is today without the Dragons and the vibrancy they brought to our community.

Since my childhood days watching the Rochester Red Wings, I have come to appreciate the necessary distractions that sports can bring to a community. Sports can help provide not just excitement and entertainment, but also a temporary distraction from the world around us. Over the past couple of years, COVID has really impacted the morale of societies worldwide; I’ve seen it here in Dayton. Sporting events like the upcoming Super Bowl, UD’s run to the NCAA tournament in 2020 and stadiums filled with Dragons fans can temporarily pause the outside distractions that cause stress and worry.

As Administrative Judge of the Montgomery County Juvenile Court, I know that my staff has been impacted by the shutdowns and cancellations inflicted by the COVID pandemic. That’s why, for the past several weeks our staff has been wearing their team colors in support of Spirit Day each Friday. I didn’t care if staff supported the UD Flyers, Dayton Dragons, the Steelers or any other team if they wanted; it lightens up the community to come together and support your team and I love seeing the happiness it brings the staff at Juvenile Court.

I’ve heard Dayton described as a “big small town” which I believe demonstrates our close relationships within our communities and I interpret this as a positive. However, I think this also means that we as a community often prefer to move gradually and change can be slow and arduous. I reflect on my efforts to bring the Dayton Dragons to this city – which didn’t happen overnight – and my advice is this: it’s ok to progressively meet challenges and address forthcoming change with an aggressive response. I think that risk-taking is sometimes necessary and, if you’re smart about it – that means collecting data, analyzing options and listening to others – then effecting change in our community doesn’t have to be intimidating.

Although I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the necessary distraction that the Bengals have given me over the past weeks – and you better believe I’ll be cheering them on this Sunday – I urge people not to forget that there are many systemic problems that continue to exist in our community. I have taken to heart my role as a public servant, both with the City Commissioner’s office and serving as Administrative Judge in Juvenile Court, and I contemplate these ongoing challenges regularly. I pride myself in being a proactive and innovative member of this community, constantly working to address these issues, and I invite others to join me.

Judge Anthony Capizzi is a Montgomery County Juvenile Court judge and was a Dayton City Commissioner from 1986 to 1998.