Rutgers men's tennis alumni Harry Cicma wanted to find a way to provide people with entertainment during a tough time. With live sports nationwide on hold due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, and Americans encouraged to stay in their home to help slow the spread, a programming need existed for people at home looking for content to consume. The four-year letterwinner and Varsity R member wanted to step up in this time.

"We are all struggling through difficult times as a result of this virus, and many heroes throughout America are stepping up to help those in need," Cicma said. "We are all working together as a team. So, I wanted to find a way to bring live sports back to the people in a safe way, with the hope of inspiring them and giving them something positive to look forward to despite the recent hardships with this pandemic."

Through a partnership with ESPN, Cicma presented a live televised sporting event: pickleball. The World Championship of Platform Tennis was held on March 30 in Connecticut and the Pickleball Mania World Championship took place on March 26 in Florida. Cicma served as the Executive Producer, Creator and Co-Founder. Cicma both created the event and handled all TV Distribution and production.

"We wanted to help sports fans finally have some live sports at home, while waiting for all events to eventually get back to normal," Cicma said. "I personally analyzed which type of one-on-one sport would fit the model of having a small quarantined staff with less than eight people on site, in order to maintain safety during this pandemic. Pickleball was the perfect fit.  Staying at home saves lives during this outbreak, so these events wouldn't be possible if they required more staff and athletes."

The event was held in a small private venue with no fans, and less than seven people. Each player served with his or her own ball, so they wouldn't be touching a ball from another player.  There was just a two-person broadcast crew on site, and Cicma coordinated and produced remotely from home via Skype, as opposed to traveling to the event, in order to maintain social distancing as a priority.

Cicma graduated from Rutgers in 2004, playing for the men's tennis team while 'On the Banks'. At RU he also worked at WRSU-FM as well as RUTV. After graduation, Cicma embarked on a professional tennis career before moving into the television side of the business He was ranked for four years on the ATP World Tour in the Professional Rankings in doubles before moving on to a career in sports entertainment.

Cicma works as a sports anchor for NBC. He also served as the host and executive producer of "World Tennis with Harry Cicma" for NESN and has announced tennis for a variety of TV networks. He won an Emmy Award in 2014 with NBC for his on-air reporting during Hurricane Sandy and was inducted in 2018 to the Greek Sports Hall of Fame.

"Rutgers has helped make me the person that I am today," Cicma explained. "I am forever grateful to be part of the Rutgers community, which inspires me every day to work hard and hopefully give students hope that they too can fulfill their dreams if they work hard and sacrifice for a positive goal."