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Featured Article | |
The PNC Bank SPORTYS - Central Florida Sports Awards & Hall of Fame |
The PNC Bank SPORTYS @ Full Sail University will be the can't miss sports event of the year! Central Florida's version of the ESPYs, the PNC Bank SPORTYS will honor the top area high school, amateur, collegiate and professional athletes, coaches, deserving local residents and businesses throughout Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties. Dwight Howard, Ryan Lochte, Austin Rivers, Jeff Godfrey, George O'Leary and Marvin Bracy top the list of SPORTY nominees.
During the show, the Class of 2011, including Doc Rivers, Chuck Rohe and Ricky Watters, will be inducted into the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame. The Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame is the continuation of a great regional sports tradition, where over 80 Central Floridians have been honored for their distinguished accomplishments within professional and amateur sports since 1981.
An exciting, elegant evening of awards and entertainment, the PNC Bank SPORTYS @ Full Sail University will take place on Saturday, September 24th at 7 pm. Only a limited number of tickets are available to the public, so get yours today. Tickets are $70 per person or $575 for a corporate 10-pack. For more information and to purchase your tickets click HERE.
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A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM SAM |
As the summer comes to an end and schools start back up the Central Florida Sports Commission is looking forward to our Fall Schedule of events. This month starts our fall schedule with the NCAA Division III Golf Preview at the end of September, followed by the Mission Inn Collegiate Classic and Florida Rugby Union, All Florida Day both in October. We wrap up the year with the FHSAA Golf finals in November and the Hickory Point Invitational in December.
We've spent the past couple of months working with the county and some of the local event and facility operators to see how we can help Lake County to grow into a premiere sports destination. We have been working closely with the Tourism and Development Committee to determine the best way to utilize the county's Capital Improvement Fund. Although several great proposals were put forward for either capital improvement or new construction, the TDC decided to table the issue for the near future to give them more time to evaluate all of their options.
We have also been in discussion with city officials in Leesburg in regards to the leasing of the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. Leesburg is looking into the possibility of leasing the complex to a third party who would then be responsible for operations, maintenance and scheduling of the venue along with all cost associated.
Next week the Sports Commission will be presenting to the Lake Vision Forum the current positioning of sports and sports tourism in Lake County. We will review where we are currently, what other counties are doing, and how we can improve to be more competitive in the sports marketplace. It should be a very insightful and beneficial meeting for everyone.
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Best Regards,
Sam Stark
President/CEO
Central Florida Sports Commission  |
 ECONOMIC IMPACT | |
Month of July, 2011
Hotel Room Nights: 125
Tax Recovery: $1,883.91
Economic Impact: $128,484.00
Number of Participants: 496
Number of Spectators: 372
Number of Events: 1
Year to Date, 2011
Hotel Room Nights: 3,147
Tax Recovery: $38,467.32
Economic Impact: $1,882,802.61
Number of Participants: 1,779
Number of Spectators: 4,688
Number of Events: 8
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| IN THE PIPELINE | |
We have been working with USSSA Florida to bringing more of their baseball events back up to the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. As of today, they have three events planned at Sleepy Hollow and we plan to work with them to identify additional dates in 2012.
As mentioned in last month's impact report, the Sports Commission had been in discussions with BASS regarding the opportunity to bring one of their collegiate fishing events to Tavares in 2012. After our several rounds of conversations with both BASS and the City of Tavares, we elected to not pursue the collegiate fishing tournament. This decision was made due to the fact that the City of Tavares had an outstanding bid to host another BASS event in 2012, and the chances of us being awarded both tournaments in the same year were highly unlikely That said, we are in discussions with FLW and Fishers of Men, two (2) other national fishing organizations, about the possibility of hosting some of their future national or regional tournaments on the Harris Chain.
In other news, the Sports Commission recently received an RFP from USA Triathlon for a couple of their Junior and Youth National Championships. There appears to be some interest in possibly bringing one of their events to Lake County in either 2012 or 2013. We are reaching out to local partners to research venue options in Lake County and hope to report any progress made with respect to this opportunity in future impact reports.
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| WINS & LOSSES | |
(as of August, 2011)
Formal Bids Submitted: 4
Total Bids Won: 3
Total Bids Lost: 1
Good news! We recently had a site visit with the National Training Center and the FHSAA about bringing the Girls Softball Finals back to South Lake in 2012, with the goal of working out a long term deal keeping the event in Clermont. The meeting went very well and we were able to solidify the event for 2012, with the possibility of extending the contract for an additional 2 + years. The FHSAA and its member schools love the National Training Center and they are excited about the possibility of making it a more permanent location of the State Finals.
As mentioned in last month's impact report, the Sports Commission conducted a site visit with Group Travel Network in August with respect to creating a high school boys and girls baseball and softball tournament. The event would be staged in early April of 12, and would attract high school teams from across the Southeast to Lake County. The site visit went well at North Lake Community Park and they hope to be able to get back to us in the next month or so on whether they plan to choose Lake County as the location of the event. Stay tuned.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
2011 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship Preview
September 24 - 27, 2011
Mission Inn Resort USSSA Fall National Championship
October 7 - 9
Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex
www.floridautrip.com
Florida Rugby Union, All Florida Day
October 21 - 23
Hickory Point Soccer Complex
http://www.floridarugbyunion.com/
2011 FHSAA Golf Finals
November 1 - 2, 2011
Mission Inn Resort
Deer Island County Club
Harbor Hills Country Club
http://www.fhsaa.org/sports/golf
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| | COMMUNITY PROFILE | |
We would like to welcome the newly opened Minneola High School to the list of outstanding Lake County Schools. Minneola High School opened its doors this August and has already set itself apart as one of the leading schools in the country. Not only is it the only local public schools to give each of its students an Apple IPad as opposed to school books, but it's also one of the only schools in the country to offer niche classes like biomedical science, plant biotechnology and Chinese. Lake Minneola is also looking to become a force on the field offering students the chance to participate in bowling, cheerleading, cross-country, football, golf, soccer, track and volleyball. We wish the best of luck to all the students and staff of Lake Minneola on a successful first year.
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