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FEATURED ARTICLE | |
The Central Florida Sports Commission will be hosting the Bright House Sports Network Breakfast of Champions, a series of awards programs that will recognize the best High School athletes in Central Florida. Five separate awards programs will be held, recognizing outstanding athletes in the following counties: Lake County, Orange County, Osceola County, Seminole County and Volusia County.
Osceola County's awards breakfast has been set for Tuesday, May 25th at the Radisson Orlando Celebration Hotel.
You should have received an invitation, so we hope you will join us in celebrating the accomplishments of these talented student athletes. |
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| A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM SAM
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Greetings from the Central Florida Sports Commission! April found the Sports Commission on the road identifying future event opportunities, while hosting back to back collegiate golf tournaments.
The Sports Commission welcomed the Northeast Conference (NEC) back to Osceola County this month as we co-hosted their Men's and Women's Conference Tournament at ChampionsGate Golf Course. This was the second year we staged the Men's Tournament, which attracted eleven (11) schools from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York to our community for three days of competition. The winner of the Men's Tournament was Saint Francis (PA), which marks only their second conference title for the Red Flash in men's golf.
For the very first time, the Central Florida Sports Commission had the opportunity to stage the NEC Women's Tournament at ChampionsGate Golf Course. The Women's Tournament attracted ten (10) schools from Maryland, New Jersey, and North Carolina (to  name a few) for three windy days of competition. The International Course at ChampionsGate seemed to be a challenge to many of the girls, but Fairleigh Dickinson was able to capture their third straight Northeast Conference Women's title.
Based on our blossoming relationship with NEC, the Sports Commission has begun initial discussions with their staff on the possibility of hosting other Northeast Conference events in Osceola County to include softball, tennis, basketball, soccer, volleyball and lacrosse. Stay tuned!
Coming up in May, the Sports Commission and Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau will be partnering with Florida Amateur Wrestling Association (FAWA) to host multiple events over a two day weekend. These events will combine the Freestyle & Greco-Roman State Championships, Women's Body Bar National Championships and a State Freestyle Dual Meet Club State Championship. We are estimating these combined events bring in over 1,000 participants to Kissimmee.
As Osceola County continues to evolve into the premier sports destination, know that the Central Florida Sports Commission will continue to work with the Convention & Visitors Bureau to bring new and exciting events to the county while continuing our renewal efforts in event management. In 2009 we helped facilitate over $31 million in Economic Impact along with over 51,000 room nights and this year we are hard at work to exceed those numbers.
As always, thank you for your continued support as we continue to market Osceola County as the "Amateur Sports Capital." |
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Best Regards,
Sam Stark
President/CEO
Central Florida Sports Commission |
| ECONOMIC IMPACT | |
Month of April, 2010
- Hotel Room Nights - 291
- Tax Recovery - $ 3,193.42
- Economic Impact - $ 193,341.75
- Number of Participants - 147
- Number of Spectators - 53
- Number of Events - 2
Year to Date (through April, 2010)
- Hotel Room Nights - 17,424
- Tax Recovery - $ 260,993.45
- Economic Impact - $ 15,904,542.00
- Number of Participants - 12,582
- Number of Spectators - 6,663
- Number of Events - 8
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IN THE PIPELINE | |
On the business development front, the Sports Commission recently sent several staff members to the 2010 National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC) Sports Event Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. This annual conference provides great opportunities for the Sports Commissions to network with multiple event organizers and identify new event opportunities. Based on our meetings at NASC, we are currently reviewing the possibility of hosting multiple events with USA Gymnastics and USA Wrestling. Two (2) in particular include the 2012/2013 USAG Women's Junior Olympic National Championships and 2012/2013 Women's Level 9 Easterns. These events would be staged at Osceola Heritage Park.
In addition, we are looking into event opportunities with Midnight Gaming Championships, the National Senior Games Association and US Lacrosse; just to name a few. We look forward to sharing more information on the aforementioned opportunities in future impact reports. |
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 WINS & LOSSES
(As of April, 2010)
Bids Submitted - 4
Wins - 3
Losses - 1
Last month, we reported that the Sports Commission hosted a site visit with Kick International in hopes of hosting the 2010 Kick International National Championship. Unfortunately, Kick elected to choose an alternative facility based on rates and availability. There are several other regional events that Kick will stage in 2011 that we hope to pursue in the coming months. Those events would take place in January, June and September of next year.
Recently, the Sports Commission has been working in partnership with the Kissimmee Civic Center to attract a Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament to Osceola County. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is interested in bringing their twelve (12) team Division III Tournament to Kissimmee in January of 2011. We have made the ECAC a proposal to stage the event at the Kissimmee Civic Center, and hope to share that we have been awarded the event in next month's impact report.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
Triple Crown Sports
 Osceola County Softball Complex
(and multiple other fields)
June 4-6, 2010
World Baseball Federation Championships
Osceola County Stadium
 June 23-27,2010
Silver Spurs Arena
 July 22-29, 2010
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| COMMUNITY PROFILE |
Some of the most fit men and women are heading to Kissimmee this month and no it's not to get a tan. They are neither athletes nor celebrities; they are firefighters! Individuals and teams from across Florida will compete in the Kissimmee Scott Firefighter Challenge taking place May 21-22 at Old Town.
This is the second year Kissimmee welcomes back the Scott Firefighter Challenge since its start in 1991. Admission is free and on top of the competition, Old Town is offering specials to anyone interested in attending this unique event. For more information, please visit the link below. 
Scott Firefighter Challenge |
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