FITNESS & AQUATICS

By now many of you will have likely already heard the bittersweet news that is forcing me to fight back tears as I write this article Sadly, my current chapter with San Jose is coming to a close

When I started at San Jose as a lifeguard in May of 2003, I was just wrapping up my junior year at Mandarin High I had no idea at the time, but my professional career path was already set! Over the years I advanced within the Club and loved coming to work every day (especially because it rarely ever felt like work!) As the years passed, I drug my feet through college at UNF while maintaining full-time employment and advancing at the Club from Lifeguard to Personal Trainer, then Interim Director, Assistant Director, and finally Director in 2013 It was clear to me from pretty early on that I loved San Jose, but I wasn’t always sure that being your Director of Fitness & Aquatics (as much as I do sincerely enjoy it) was my final destination

One of the many things I love about the members of San Jose is that so many of you champion the advancement of our staff! That being the case, myself as well as quite a few other staff members over the years have fielded compliments from time to time whereby members would confide their confidence and desire for each of us to lead the Club as the General Manager one day The consistent and unwavering support that so many of you have expressed to me eventually started to take root and got me thinking seriously about whether or not I really did have what it takes to run this Club (and whether or not that is really what I wanted)

As we went through our last General Manager search in late 2020, I decided it was what I wanted and now was the time to throw my name in the hat I figured that at a minimum I’d be a stopgap to make sure that the next GM at least couldn’t be any worse than me I wasn’t sure how it would go, but per San Jose usual, the support I received from our members, staff, and Board of Governors was overwhelming! Through that process I realized I was close, but I wasn’t quite ready I was however clear on what I needed to work on and my confidence was bolstered by our amazing Board and then new General Manager who both made a steadfast commitment to furthering my education and credentials for the purpose of preparing me to realize my ambition of becoming a successful General Manager in the future (which I always thought would be at San Jose one day)

Thanks to the incredible support I’ve received every step of the way from everyone here at the Club, my goal of leading a private club as a General Manager has finally come to fruition I am happy, sad, excited, and humbled to share that I have accepted an opportunity with The Beachwalk Club in St John’s County to become their new General Manager/COO

San Jose has been my morning commute for nearly 20 of my 37 years on this Earth SJCC is where I’ve grown up, it’s where I’ve met many of my closest friends, where I’ve made a lifetime of amazing memories, where I’ve been privileged to be a part of some of the most significant life events both happy and sad in many of your lives, and if ever I get asked where home is, San Jose Country Club is what I think of first Words cannot express what an impact this Club and it’s members have had in my life Love, appreciation, gratitude, doesn’t begin to quantify what I feel for this amazing Club It has truly been the privilege of a lifetime to serve all of you This isn’t goodbye, it's just farewell for now!

Our Assistant Director Mhardy Moralita will be the Acting Interim Director starting April 15th and he’s excited to help lead our Fitness and Aquatics operations going forward We have an amazing and well tenured team here in Fitness, so I know I’m leaving you in very capable hands! My last official day will be Friday April 14th; please feel free to stop by my office anytime through that date if you need anything or just to tell me not to let the door hit me on the way out haha!

Sincerely,

Chase Chenoweth