SPORTS Talk
Industry
New Website For Decatur Parks & Rec
DECATUR, Ala.—Decatur Parks & Recreation and Decatur-Morgan County CVB launched a new sports marketing website, www.decatursports.com, as a tool for recruiting sports events to Decatur. The website markets Decatur’s “first-rate facilities and venues, experienced sports staff, upcoming tournaments and events, and recreational activities for participants.” Last year, Decatur grossed $1.26 million from sporting events.
The CVB’s website, www.decaturcvb.org, has new features as well, including a schedule of events, directions, resources for booking accommodations and a downloadable visitors guide.
CSU Names Head Coach For Reinstated Football Program
PUEBLO, Colo.—John Wristen was recently named head coach for the Colorado State University Thunder-wolves football program. The university has not had a football program since 1985, when it was cut due to a campus-wide reorganization. The Thunderwolves will begin play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) in the fall of 2008.
Wristen, a 1984 graduate of CSU-Pueblo and two-time RMAC quarterback, previously coached in NCAA Division I at UCLA, Northwestern and the University of Colorado.
COA Cheer & Dance CEO Inducted Into Spirit Industry Hall Of Fame
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Steven G. Wedge, president/CEO of COA Cheer & Dance, will be one of five inaugural inductees into the Spirit Industry Hall of Fame, created by the Spirit Industry Trade Association to recognize “industry leaders of high integrity and character who have contributed a longstanding body of work (20 years or more) that has significantly impacted the spirit industry.”
Wedge, a former cheerleader for Ohio State University, started COA Cheer & Dance in 1987; the organization currently produces 48 cheer and dance competitions and instructional camps nationwide and has awarded more than $360,000 in scholarships to cheer and dance athletes worldwide.
Chesapeake Boathouse Names Director Of New Program
OKLAHOMA CITY—Olympic weightlifter Shane Hamman has been named director of strength training for the new High Performance program at Chesapeake Boathouse in Oklahoma City. As director of strength training, Hamman will help take rowing and kayaking athletes “to the next level” and will emphasize quality strength training in youth sports camps and coaching clinics. The program will include elite athlete training camps and programs in injury prevention and rehabilitation, sports nutrition and sports psychology.
Hamman, who competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, is considered by many to be the strongest man in America; he has broken 27 American weightlifting records and holds the world squat record of 1,008 pounds, with a best clean-and-jerk of 523 pounds and snatch of 435 pounds.
Industry Veteran Launches Sports Marketing Firm
BELOIT, Wis.—Lou Mengsol, most recently director of sports marketing for the Greater Woodfield CVB, has launched Innovations Consulting with his wife, Cathy, and Jim Rhode, whose expertise is in travel and hospitality. The consulting firm will assist municipalities, sports commissions, CVBs, athletic venues and other organizations with sponsorship, event management, marketing, housing and sales outreach.
Innovations Consulting developed the Sports Congress, a sports marketing and trade event that will include presentations on branding, sponsorship and electronic marketing; the Sports Congress will be held Dec. 6-9 at Copper Mountain Resort in Copper, Colo.
Products
Clubhouse Kit Marketed To Sports Teams
TOMS RIVER, N.J.—As the father of two Little League Sluggers, Brad Singer, president of EISCO, which has manufactured “professional strength cleaning products” since 1963, said he understands the cost and effort to maintain clean uniforms and gear—and that’s why he’s marketing the company’s Clubhouse Kit to sports organizations and teams across the country.
Clubhouse Kit features 12 cleaning products, sold individually, that have been tested and proven to remove everything from grass stains to blood stains, and even pine tar, Singer said.
Events
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail To Host Shotgun Start Golf Tournament
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Alabama will host the inaugural Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Nationwide Insurance Team Championship Oct. 1. Each location’s tournament will begin at 1 p.m. in what is described as the “world’s largest shotgun start tournament” and possibly Alabama’s largest golf tournament in terms of players and geography. More than 1,000 players are expected. The low gross and low net winners from each tournament will compete in the championship tournament on Oct. 22 at Ross Bridge in Hoover.
Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame; the tournament is designed to bring national if not worldwide recognition to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
Collegiate Golf Championship Set For Kissimmee
KISSIMMEE, Fla.—The 2007 Hooters Women’s Collegiate Match Play Championships will be held Nov. 4-6 at the Ginn Reunion Resort in Kissimmee. Sixteen collegiate teams will compete in a modified double-elimination format played on the Independence course, a Tom Watson signature design. Teams were selected based on final standings of the 2007 NCAA National Championship.
The championship is also presented by the National Golf Coaches Association.
SWAC Announces Site Of Women’s Soccer Tournament
LAKE CHARLES, La.—Lake Charles has been selected to host the 2007 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women’s Soccer Tournament Nov. 1-4. The tournament, featuring the top three teams from both the Eastern and Western divisions, will be played at the Lake Charles Multi Sports Complex.
The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament.
New York City To Host Squash Tournament
NEW YORK—U.S. Squash and Squash Universe announce the 2007 men’s U.S. Open Squash Championships, to be held Sept. 27-Oct. 4, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. Initial qualifying rounds for the 32 teams will be played at New York City area clubs.
The 2007 championship is the first of a multi-year licensing agreement of the event between U.S. Squash and Squash Universe to promote squash.
Youth
School Districts Adopt Just Run Fitness Program
MONTEREY, Calif.—Monterey and Salinas Unified School Districts have adopted the Just Run fitness program as part of their after-school programs for the 2007-2008 school year. The program is free to schools due to funding provided through private donations and the Big Sur International Marathon.
Just Run teaches activity, fitness principles, goal setting, stretching and physical development in schools from second to eighth grade. Kids can track their accumulated miles on the website’s “virtual run,” and are encouraged to participate in the program’s 5K competition.
During the 2006-2007 school year, 4,300 kids in 41 schools logged 134,000 total miles and 2,200 kids competed in the 5K race.
Disney Secures Sponsor Of Soccer Showcase
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—London’s Chelsea Football Club (CFC) has agreed to a four-year partnership with Disney’s Wide World of Sports as presenting sponsor of the Disney Soccer Showcase Series. The partnership also makes CFC the official professional soccer club of Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
CFC will have a “significant presence” at Disney soccer events, including coaches and players clinics, and will send at least one team from its soccer academy to compete at the sports complex. Likewise, one team from a select Disney soccer tournament will train at Chelsea’s soccer academy in London.
Oregon Enacts PE Legislation For K-8 Schools
SALEM, Ore.—Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed into law House Bill 3141, establishing a minimum 150 minutes of PE instruction per week for elementary students and 225 minutes for middle school students statewide. The legislation is intended to “arrest the obesity epidemic and the growing levels of inactivity of Oregon’s youth.”
The legislation provides $1 million of grants and allocated funds to support the 200-plus school districts in the state in meeting these new minimum standards for PE instruction.
Soccer Teams Selected For National League
FRISCO, Texas—U.S. Youth Soccer has selected the 32 teams for its first National League, featuring the organization’s top players in boys’ and girls’ Under-15 and Under-16 divisions. The new league is designed to help advance players in their aspirations for collegiate, professional and National Team competition, and is a direct path to the annual U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships.
The selected teams will begin play this fall.
Venues
CSU-Stanislaus Plans New Stadium, Fitness Center
Renovations Planned For Fairgrounds Park
LOVELAND, Colo.—The City of Loveland Parks & Recreation Department has begun renovations to the 48.5-acre Loveland Fairgrounds Park, including renovation of six existing ball fields and the addition of four new multi-purpose softball/baseball fields, a skate park, a basketball court, concession/restroom facilities and parking.
The renovations are estimated at $9 million and are expected to be completed in the fall of 2008.
Dolphin Stadium Renovations Continue
MIAMI—Dolphin Stadium has completed part of a $300 million renovation, including the addition of 360,000 square feet to the Club Level and installation of high-definition video display boards and LED ribbon boards that are described as the longest in the world.
Other renovations over the next two years will focus on the Plaza, 100 and 400 levels and other improvements yet to be finalized.
Dolphin Stadium is the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins football team and will become the new home of the University of Miami Hurricanes football team in 2008.