Registration is now open for the 4^th Annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon which will be held on Sunday, October 30. The 13.1 mile race returns to our original course, beginning with a lap around Daytona International Speedway, continuing to the World's Most Famous Beach, and ending where history has been made for more than 50 years: the Speedway's finish line.  For more information and to register for the race, "Like" our Facebook page at the link below.  We hope to see you there!

With the spring season now upon us, the Central Florida Sports Commission finds itself hard at work as we continue our planning for several NCAA and high school state championships. It is a busy time at our office and all throughout the Central Florida sports scene. We have a major announcement below in regards to a World Wide Gymnastics event, so be sure to read it! 

For starters, the NCAA returns to Seminole County May 11-14 for the Division II Men's & Women's Tennis Championships at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs.  Teams from across the United States will converge on Altamonte Springs for the opportunity to be crowned national champions. On the links, we are hosting the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Regional Championships May 1-4 at Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand. We are also preparing for the NCAA Division I Women's Regional Golf Championships at LPGA International May 4-7.  We finish off this championship series with the return of the NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships at the Mission Inn Resort from May 8 - 13.  

High School State Champions will also be crowned in Central Florida this month in Water Polo, Lacrosse, and softball.  The FHSAA Water Polo finals begin tomorrow and run through Saturday at the YMCA Aquatic Center.  Lacrosse Finals are hosted at West Orange High School May 6 and 7, and the Softball Finals are at the National Training Center in Clermont May 9-14.

In the area of business development, the CFSC, sports boosters, and Mayor Buddy Dyer held an event April 13 at the Amway Center to start a community-wide initiative to enlist leaders from Central Florida's business community to help bring NCAA Tournament games and other major events to Orlando. Guests heard a pitch to join a new group of business and community leaders that will help the city and the Central Florida Sports Commission convince the NCAA to bring the college basketball tournament here. The new strategy is to leverage personal connections that local leaders might have with NCAA representatives. For more information or to become a part of this initiative please click HERE. 

As you can see we've got a lot of great things going on at the Sports Commission, so read about our recent and upcoming activity below. 

We are proud to announce that the Sports Commission made the final cut in our proposal to USA Gymnastics for the right to host the 2015 World Championships in Orlando.  The proposed dates of the event (both training and competition) are September 25th - October 11.  Gymnastics teams from across the world, including China, Russia and Bulgaria, along with thousands of spectators, would be in Orlando over the course of 18 days.  Approximately 20,000 room nights would be generated within the City of Orlando/Orange County.  We will travel to San Jose, CA this May to give a presentation to the International Council, so keep your fingers crossed!  We hope to have an update for you in next month's newsletter.