Bob Pomeroy
When it comes to individuals who have made a large impact on the Bartlesville athletic community, Bob Pomeroy’s name should be at the top of everyone’s list. Bob grew up in Bartlesville, attending Jane Phillips Elementary, Central Middle School and Col-Hi. He went to work for Phillips 66 in 1963 and worked for the company for 39 years, retiring in 2002 as Director of Sponsorships, which included overseeing sponsorships with various universities, NCAA conferences and NASCAR as well as working directly with ESPN. Over the course of his career Pomeroy was able to work with many famous coaches, athletes, and athletic directors.
Pomeroy has participated in and led many community-benefitting endeavors over the course of his life, including many which have benefitted the local athletes. Bob was a part of the group of community leaders who first established the Bartlesville Sports Commission 17 years ago in 2007 with the goal of motivating local youth to excel in athletics, to build excitement around regional athletic events and to generate and promote athletic activities that would have a positive economic impact on the Bartlesville area.
Right out of the gate the BSC put in a bid to host the Lone Star Conference basketball tournament in March of 2008 and, to their own surprise, they received the bid! Pomeroy was appointed the tournament chairman and chaired all four LSC conference tournaments that the BSC hosted. After several teams left the conference, leaving only one LSC school in the state of Oklahoma, they decided to move their tournament elsewhere. Instead of sitting on the sidelines Pomeroy reached out to the newly formed, 12-team Great American Conference, and invited their newly minted commissioner to visit Bartlesville. He made the trek to Bartlesville, lodged at Pomeroy’s house and discussed what the GAC was looking for and what the BSC had done with the Lone Star Conference. A week later the BSC and GAC signed a 3-year contract to host the men’s and women’s conference basketball tournaments and the BSC ended up hosting the tournaments for nine straight years. In all, Bartlesville played host to 13 conference championships, all chaired by Pomeroy, which created a $10 million+ economic impact to the city. During this run Pomeroy became the chairman of the BSC in 2011 and led the sports commission until March of 2022 when he stepped down.
The sports commission has benefitted the community with grant dollars given to both the high school and local athletic groups as well as via economic impact from the events which have taken place in Bartlesville and it is safe to say that the majority of these events would not have happened without the leadership of Mr. Pomeroy.