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Get Your Tickets Today
Back by popular demand! Purchase a reserved seat for the July 30th show at Amway Center and guarantee yourself an up close and personal experience at the Celebrity Mascot Games. Reserved seats are only $16. There is also a Buy One Get One FREE ticket opportunity available by visiting the event website. Click HERE for more information.
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A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM SAM |
Spring has come and gone and summer is fast upon us. Lake County's summer started off by hosting the 3rd Annual Lake County Police Athletic League Summer Games. Similar to last year the events will be divided up into three separate weekends throughout the summer. The first event of the summer was the PAL Stage Cycle Race which was hosted in Howey-In-The-Hills. The event was even bigger and better than last year hosting over 500 cycle riders spread over three events with over 250 riders alone on Sunday. One special draw for this event was that it was on the same course as the Florida Cycling State Road Race Championships. Those hoping to get a sneak preview of the October Championship came down to Howey to see the course and get an idea of what they would be facing later in the year.
Lake County PAL was also host to the 3v3 Soccer Challenge which was hosted at the Hickory Point Soccer Complex from July 9 - 10. Up next for Lake County PAL is going to be the Martial Arts Challenge which is going to be held at Lake Sumter Community College, September 16 - 17. This has been and will continue to be a fun and exciting summer for the Lake County PAL so please come out and support them.
We are currently in the planning phase of our fall events which include the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Preview, FHSAA Golf Finals and several others. We will keep you up to date on new opportunities and new events we are bringing in to Lake County. |
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Best Regards,
Sam Stark
President/CEO
Central Florida Sports Commission  |
 ECONOMIC IMPACT | |
Month of May, 2011
Hotel Room Nights: 1,148
Tax Recovery: $15,652.51
Economic Impact: $808,537.25
Number of Participants: 616
Number of Spectators: 3,806
Number of Events: 2
Year to Date, 2011
Hotel Room Nights: 3,022
Tax Recovery: $36,583.41
Economic Impact: $1,754,318.61
Number of Participants: 1,283
Number of Spectators: 4,316
Number of Events: 7
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| IN THE PIPELINE | |
 The Sports Commission has been working hard to get more events into Lake County for 2012. We recently met with the Florida United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) about bringing more USSSA youth baseball events back into Leesburg and throughout Lake County. It's been over a year since Florida USSSA has had a strong presence in Lake County but we hope are recent discussions will drive additional youth baseball tournaments to the community. Along those lines, we are also in talks with Florida Amateur Softball Association about the possibility of bidding on several national fast pitch events that are currently up for bid. Various venues that can be set up for fast pitch tournaments in Lake County such as the National Training Center would be targeted for these events.
In addition, we recently helped to coordinate a meeting with the Race For The Kids Foundation and City of Tavares with respect to potentially hosting a boat race on Lake Dora either this coming fall or next. The event would consist of amateur race teams from across the United States. The meeting went well but still lots of details to be worked through before we can make a formal announcement on dates. Stay tuned! |
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| WINS & LOSSES | |
(as of June, 2011)
Formal Bids Submitted: 4
Total Bids Won: 2
Total Bids Lost: 1
Unfortunately, the Sports Commission recently learned that after a three year stint, the Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Championship will not be returning to the Mission Inn Resort and Lake County for 2012. We were told that the A10 had a wonderful experience while at the Mission Inn Resort, but conference administration and coaches felt the need to provide their student athletes a different experience during their respective college careers. The conference has told us they hope that we will bid for future championships, which we plan to do in the not so distant future. To combat the loss, we are working with a couple of different college golf teams that are interested in coming down to Mission Inn and creating a "Spring Break" Collegiate Invitational. Connecticut and St. Bonaventure are two (2) of the schools that have expressed an interest. Exact dates are still to be determined.
 In addition, the Sports Commission is currently in negotiations with the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) about the possibility of the Girls Softball Championships returning to Lake County in 2012 and 2013. The Sports Commission, National Training Center and Lake County School Board have co-hosted the event the past two (2) years in Clermont. The National Training Center is a finalist, along with the softball complex at the University of South Florida. A decision could be made within the next month.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS | |
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| | COMMUNITY PROFILE | |
LPGA star Yani Tseng is a Central Florida resident and trains at the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, located at Mission Inn Resort & Club, Tseng has been on quite a roll lately. After starting out the LPGA Season with a win at the Honda LPGA Thailand, Yani has gone on to set a number of LPGA records including being the youngest player ever to win four Major Championships. This past weekend she had the chance to become the youngest player in history to win all four Major's but unfortunately came up just short finishing tied for 15th at the US Women's Open. Since 2010 when Yani started working with Gary Gilchrist, she has accumulated a total of 11 wins and 4 out of the last 7 Major's. Yani is at the beginning of a very young and very promising career with Gilchrist. At the end of the month Yani will look to defend her 2010 RICOH Women's British Open Championship title at Carnoustie in Scotland.
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