With all the time we spend talking about youth sports, it’s interesting to look at some of the more common sporting events that you probably see just about every weekend in your area—the charity 5K or 10K that you’ll run into (or be detoured around) on Saturday mornings. According to 2015 stats from Running USA, the number of recreational athletes completing road races declined for the second straight year in 2015. The reduction was by a more significant margin than in 2014, when finisher totals edged down one percent. For 2015, 17.1 million finishers were reported across all road race distances, a decrease of nine percent from the previous year. Between 1990 and 2013, finisher totals skyrocketed from five million road race runners to more than 19 million. But there is one group that is experiencing its own running boom—women. Women and girls, once an afterthought in the world of running, made up 57% of the 17 million U.S. race finishers last year, again accordi...

Interested in bidding for an NCAA Division I, II or III regional or final championship? Remember the date of Friday, August 12. From now until the 2021-22 season, NCAA championship sites are up for bid and for just about every sport, the deadline is August 12. Here is a listing of NCAA championships up for bid and upcoming deadlines. The NCAA will walk you through the process at http://championships.ncaa.org. Events are listed in order of when they are scheduled. Included are events for Division I, II and III: 2017-18 Beach Volleyball                             Finals                                   8/11/16 2017-18 Mixed Rifle        &n...

Check out our line-up of event webinars, sponsored by MGM Resorts International, below and reserve your spot today! The Color Run Thursday, June 23, 2016 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Presented by Kent Phippen Register Now! Join Kent Phippen from The Color Run as he discusses what he looks for in a host city and what it takes to host their events. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 23rd, remember you can download the webinar recording from our Webinar Archives (login required). USA Cycling Thursday, July 21, 2016 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET Presented by Micah Rice Register Now! Join Micah Rice from USA Cycling as he discusses what he looks for in a host city and what it takes to host their events. Micah will share details on their upcoming 2018-2019 USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships, 2018-2019 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships and the 2019-2020 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship...

The world-famous Children’s Museum in Indianapolis is taking its exhibits outside with plans, announced last week, to build a 10-acre attraction on the parking lot north of its building called the "Sports Legend Experience."  The site, according to the Indianapolis Star, will feature an 18-hole mini golf course, tennis, street hockey, basketball courts and two pedal cart race tracks, one an oval and the other a drag race track. According to the plans the museum filed with the city, the site also will include a soccer field, as well as track and family fitness loops, along with football and baseball fields and an event/tent space. Children’s Museum spokeswoman Leslie Olsen said in an email that the project will cost considerably more than $10 million. The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission staff recommended approving the plans, saying the exhibit will “provide both parents and children an outdoor sports experience in...

Baylor University Athletic Director Ian McCaw came to Waco in the aftermath of one of the ugliest scandals in college athletics. He leaves in the middle of another one. McCaw was hired in 2003 after Baylor’s basketball scandal, when student-athlete Patrick Dennehy was shot dead near a gravel pit and his former teammate, Carlton Dotson, was accused, eventually pleaded guilty and received a 35-year sentence for the murder. But that was only part of the story, as head basketball coach Dave Bliss encouraged his staff to portray Dennehy as a drug dealer to save his own job and reputation. Bliss eventually resigned after an assistant coach taped Bliss’ conversations and exposed the coverup. In the wake of that mess, McCaw came in to add respect and integrity to the program and watched head coach Scott Drew lead the basketball team to 20-win seasons, NCAA Elite Eight appearances and an NIT Championship. It’s ironic, then, that another scandal, this time involving...

We continue our Featured Benefit for the month of May with a blog post on the NASC Playbook. The NASC Playbook is the official quarterly publication of the NASC and is mailed to each member organization. The NASC Playbook is published in March, June, September and December each year. Content includes association updates, member news, and industry trends and best practices for the sport tourism industry. In an effort to enhance the overall content of The NASC Playbook, we like to include peer-written articles in future editions. NASC members have a knowledge of the industry, which lends itself to unprecedented expertise. We encourage you to share your expertise with your peers through well-written commentary.   Submission Guidelines All content should be approximately 400 words and the author should provide a minimum of two photos (author head shot and photo for topic). Our Media Advisers at Game Day Communications can help with final edits.  For content submission, ...

For many of you, whether you’re an events rights holder or operate a sports venue, this is your Christmas season—it’s your busiest, most frantic time of the year as schools let out and summer sports organizations kick into high event gear. You’ll be working on multi-session, multi-day tournaments and won’t be able to catch your breath until the last champion is crowned. So this is a good time to remind all of us, in between cursing the rain, the broken popcorn maker and the late t-shirt delivery, why we do what we do in sports, especially youth sports. Earlier this year, Fortune Magazine published an article, “Here’s Why Women Who Play Sports Are More Successful” by Beth Brooke-Marciniak, global vice chair of public policy at EY. A study by Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports confirms what we all know—about 70% of children in the U.S drop out of organized sports before age 13. We’...

If, as they say, everything is bigger in Texas, well this should fit nicely. A high school in Texas has plans to build a $62.8 million football stadium, and it’s not alone in its plans for bigger and better facilities. The Dallas Morning News reports that the school board in McKinney, Texas, outside of Dallas, this month approved a $220 million bond proposal for the district, including the construction of a 12,000 seat, $62.8 million football stadium. Now, McKinney isn’t the first to do this. In fact, the Katy, Texas, Independent School District has proposed a 12,000 seat facility that is expected to cost anywhere from $58 million to $61 million. And the Allen Independent School District, just 10 miles from McKinney, opened an 18,000 seat, $60 million stadium in 2012. For its opening game, the home team had 22,000 fans show up. “I think McKinney needs it,” said Tim Carroll, director of public information for the Allen school district. Carroll says a lar...

Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today! Financing Sport Tourism & Recreation Assets, Part II Best Practices Webinar Wednesday, May 25, 2016 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Presented by Don Schumacher Register Now! Join NASC Executive Director, Don Schumacher, CSEE as he presents a follow up to the Financing Sport Tourism session that was presented in Grand Rapids, MI during the 24th NASC Symposium. During this webinar, Don will discuss proven methods, critical elements, and insight to demystify the financing process for new sports venues. This is a webinar for those with an interest in new project development and those desiring to broaden their knowledge related to project finance. There will be time at the end of the webinar for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 25th, you can download the recording from the webinar archives page on www.SportsCommissions.org. NASC Economic Impact Calculator Best Practices Webinar Wednesday...

An interesting website, www.changingthegameproject.com, posted an interesting article recently called “How Adults Take the Joy out of Sports (And How We Can Fix It).” The article opens with a youngster playing soccer, almost frozen on the field as his coach is instructing him to do one thing, and his dad is yelling at him to do another. Not knowing which way to turn, the player does nothing. We’ve talked before about how kids often lose the joy of playing sports, and parents can be to blame for that. The article states that many kids quit when the enjoyment, one of three key components along with autonomy and motivation, is gone. The article also talks about a great example of what it’s like for a team to play with joy. Look no farther than the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, who seemingly play with childlike enthusiasm and pure happiness. That joy translates into a record win streak and, very likely, another title this season. So how do a...