90+ years of experience to serve the college and high school sports landscape
Seattle, WA – It is with great excitement that four experienced personnel in the collegiate travel and tournament space have come together to launch a new company called Global Sports & Events, LLC (GSE).
Erik Evans, Jason Sarkies, Susie (Sooz) Jarosch, and Sean McShane have a combined 90+ years of experience servicing and supporting Division I collegiate basketball athletic programs in their use of international summer tours and fall multi-team events. The four partners are all former senior staff of well-known Basketball Travelers which has operated in the collegiate space for almost 35 years.
“COVID-19 has proven to be a once in 100-year event and its impact on all of college athletics is almost impossible to measure,” said Jason Sarkies, Co-founder of Global Sports & Events. “As a group, however, we’ve looked at our vast experience and relationships and determined that now is the best time to launch this new endeavor. I’ve personally put together or led over 250 Division I foreign tours and have been intimately involved in putting together numerous MTE’s in twenty-six years at my former employer, and my colleagues all have similar profiles. We can’t wait to get going!”
While very thankful for the life-long skills learned at BTI, the new team at GSE looks forward to continuing to work with long-standing relationships in college basketball and high school and will be expanding their efforts into additional related sports and endeavors.
“We’ve all had to navigate the many challenges of COVID-19 and we recognize there will be an impact on college athletics for quite some time,” said Susie Jarosch, GSE Co-founder and Partner. “These challenges only fueled our resolve to re-think and consider how to provide high quality, elite-level events, and tours for athletes, coaches, administrators, and supporters. We’re excited to continue the work we’ve been doing in college and high school sports and we’re committed to creating innovative opportunities that recognize the whole spectrum of athletics.”
Joining the core founding team is Brian Ratzliff, a long-time Seattle technology entrepreneur who will focus on operational management and media partnerships at GSE. Befitting the years of experience among the GSE management team, a host of friends and long-standing relationships have expressed their best wishes and encouragement as Jason, Sooz, Erik, and Sean launch this new venture, epitomized by these fine words:
“I have known Jason for 25 years running great events and truly expect the same level of performance working with Global Sports & Events. As a matter of fact, Jason has organized events I have been part of as a player, coach and administrator! That just speaks to the tremendous experience GSE has on their team. Look for high level events in their future!”
Aaron Woliczko – Senior Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball & Sports Administration – West Coast Conference
NCAA Coaches
“As coaches, we’d like to congratulate the team at Global Sports & Events, for the launch of their new endeavor. All of us have benefited from their experience and dedication to summer tours and tournaments that we’ve participated in the past, and we wish them great success as they enter the 2020’s and beyond.”
Matt Painter, HC – Purdue; Joni Taylor – HC Georgia; Wayne Tinkle – HC Oregon State; Ryan Gensler – AC Dayton; Cindy Griffin – HC St. Joe’s; Dave Paulson – HC George Mason; Terry Kix – AC Purdue; Nathan Davis – HC Bucknell; Danielle O’Bannon – AC Minnesota; Greg Lansing – HC Indiana State; Matilda Mossman – HC Tulsa; Ray Giacoletti – AC St. Louis
Collegiate Administrators
“All of us have had the pleasure of working with the GSE partners over the years and we’ve always appreciated their understanding of the collegiate space, their attention to the details so important to administrators in college athletics, and their desire for the best experiences for student-athletes. We wish them well as they move forward.”
Dan Butterly, Commissioner – Big West; Tanya Vogel, AD – GWU; Sean Kearney, Associate Commissioner – A10; Brian Santiago, Associate AD – BYU; Aaron Woliczko – Senior Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball & Sports Administration – WCC
International, Domestic Partners & Friends
“Over the years, it’s been our pleasure to work closely with the GSE partners on many tours and tournaments or other unique programming, and it’s been our experience that they approach things with integrity, a desire to create win/win’s for others, and a real willingness to listen and be thoughtful in their work and overall professionalism. We look forward to seeing what kind of innovations and new opportunities emerge from their new venture.”
Keita Ahmadou (France), Bahamas Ministry of Tourism; Craig Jonas, CEO & Co-Founder, CoPeace; Jeff Jonas, Director of Global Business Development, Intel; Adam Gordon, CEO & Co-Founder, Rising Coaches; Brooks Downing, CEO & Founder bdGlobal Sports; John Prater, CEO Prater Flooring; Lindsey Ross – Director of Rights Acquisition, FloSports; Mike Miller, VP Early Miller Productions; Brenda VanLengen – Broadcaster
High School
“Most of us have had personal experience with the GSE team over the past 20+ years as we’ve attended their Phoenix and San Diego events. In total, they’ve served over 1000 boy’s and girl’s teams at holiday tournaments and many of us are repeat customers which is a testimony to their professionalism and desire to create rewarding experiences for our teams and students.”
Dan Taylor, WA State HS WBB Coaching Rep; Nalin Sood, WA State HS MBB Coaching Rep; Carl Mattei – HC Regis Jesuit HS (CO); Joe Puetz -HC Lakeside, WA; Shawn Lytle – AD Chandler Prep (AZ); Brandon LeTarte – Sunnyslope WBB (AZ); David Leiber, AD/HC – Friends Seminary (NY); Janice Laing – HC Monsignor McCoy (AB); Claude Leduc – AD/HC West Vancouver (BC)
For inquiries on future events, requests, or more information, please contact Global Sports & Events at info@globalsande.com or (206) 852-8524.
