Entries for 2017

Building for the weather: The Foley Sports Complex

 Posted on: January 25 2017
Our friends at the city of Foley (AL) and Foley Sports Tourism have been making news with their Foley Sports Tourism complex, the major sports venue including a 90,000 square foot indoor events center along with 16 multipurpose athletic fields for outdoor use. In the December 2016 issue of SportsField Management, the article describes how the complex was designed, despite traditionally heavy rainfall in the area. (For example, Mobile, Alabama, one of the rainiest cities in the U.S., is only 40 miles away) “Project designers rejected the option of using artificial turf for the outdoor portion of the complex, “ the article says, “and instead elected to build all 16 fields using natural grass. “The goal,” the article continues, “was to deliver a better playing surface that would also minimize injuries. The challenge was to ensure rain-or-shine playability 365 days a year.” To do that, designers had to come up with a system that would acce...

How Organizations With Small Staffs Can Bid on and Host Sports Events

 Posted on: January 24 2017
In theory, you or I could submit a bid for any sporting event.  If you want to win a bid, and more importantly host an event, you must start by knowing your product (your local facilities, community and marketing plan) and developing strong relationships.  If you’re not already connected, it’s time to get connected within your community and within the NASC.  Meet the management team and staff at each facility; get to know your community members and their interest in the sport(s) you are considering bidding on and build relationships with the event organizer(s).   Dedicate time to research the sporting event; contact friends within the industry that have been hosts and have open, honest conversations with the organizer(s) to establish realistic expectations and to create a mutually beneficial plan. Knowing you and your team (staff, LOC, community partners and event organizers) are positioned to make the event successful takes precedence over bidding. Fac...

Goodness out of tragedy

 Posted on: January 18 2017
The recent release of the movie “Patriots Day” reminded us of how sports can converge in the real world with tragic results. As you might remember, it was 2013 when the Boston Marathon (run on Patriots Day) was forever scarred by two blasts that went off near the finish line. The tragedy killed three and injured 264.  Among those killed was 8-year-old Martin Richard, there among the spectators with his family. It’s a timely reminder, because Dave McGillivray, the race director for the Boston Marathon, sent out an email this week on his run to remember Martin. “Since April 15, 2015, almost every race I’ve run, I’ve dedicated to and run in memory of Martin Richard,” McGillivray writes. “This year will be my 45th Boston Marathon (he usually runs the course after the race has ended). My son, Max, is running his first Boston Marathon this year. “We both are running on behalf of MR8-the Martin Richard Foundation-which suppor...

Back to School (Recruiting)

 Posted on: January 11 2017
Youngsters who are involved in sports, we hope, are involved for the right reasons: Learning teamwork, staying active, honing social skills. A few are athletically gifted enough that they can look forward to a career at the next level, be it high school, college or beyond. Whether you work with youngsters in camps, in AAU-type organizations or at school, the process of playing with one eye on a scholarship is a stressful one. First, the facts, courtesy the NCAA: Eight million kids are participating in high school sports. Only 480,000 of them (about 6 percent) will eventually compete in collegiate athletics at an NCAA program. And only 56 percent of those athletes will receive “some level” of scholarship assistance, and that amount averages less than $11,000 per student-athlete. And remember, many scholarships are “partial” scholarships, especially when you are dealing with the so-called Olympic sports of track and field, soccer and the like. Even baseball ...
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