Unprecedented times sometimes call for unprecedented measures, and outgoing Long Beach Century Club President Mike Fillipow certainly had a unique tenure at the helm. Fillipow was not only tasked with bringing the club back to normal business following the COVID-19 pandemic, he was also asked to serve for two years as president, rather than the customary 12 months.
Fillipow’s tenure as club president ended last week, as he officially passed the gavel to new president Mike Okabayashi during the club’s weekly meeting.
“I enjoyed being president,” said Fillipow of his time in charge. “It takes some work, but not as much work as most people think because there’s so many people behind the scenes that are doing a ton all the time. Dan Gooch, John Fylpaa, Sam Breuklander, those guys are pretty much the cornerstones, day in and day out making things run smoothly.”
Fillipow said that one of his main goals as president was to help the club increase its digital profile and become more tech-savvy. Those initiatives are expected to continue with the new leadership now in place.
“Mike has recognized a lot of the things that we’ve tried to do and implement this year, and he’s going to continue our social media footprint, which I think has improved dramatically along with our communication,” Fillipow said. “We’re transitioning to more modern payment systems and trying to keep up with the current technology more so than we have in the past. That’s been one of my biggest things going in was to get the club a little bit more modernized.”
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Fillipow’s tenure as president was actually moved up a year, as he was elevated from first vice president once the club’s president-elect moved out of state. A year later, a work conflict meant that Fillipow would need to serve a second consecutive year as president–a first for the club.
In another interesting note, he was competing as a student-athlete on the Long Beach City College cross country team during his presidency, meaning he was overseeing an organization founded to support Long Beach’s athletes–just like him. Fillipow also served as a longtime cross country coach at Long Beach Poly, and even founded the LBUSD’s middle school cross country meet, giving him a unique appreciation for the club’s impact on all aspects of local athletics.
“It was a perfect fit for the two years,” Fillipow explained. “It’s kind of funny that my City College career was two years and I used up my eligibility there, and the Century Club, those were kinda the two things on my bucket list since retiring from Poly. So they went hand in hand, they complemented each other really well. Going to meetings and having Long Beach City College coaches there and my AD would be there. Soit was a lot of fun, and it worked well.”
For more information on the Long Beach Century Club, visit LBCenturyClub.org.
