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Featured Article | |
High School football playoffs begin this weekend, and the road to the state championship leads to Orlando!
The FHSAA Football Finals will be held right here in Central Florida at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The four-day event consists of eight state championship games with two games played on Friday and two games played on Saturday of both weekends. The dates for the 2011 Football Finals are Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17.
East Ridge High School from Lake Countywill compete in the playoffs with the chance to advance to the State Championship. Click HERE for the FHSAA playoff brackets and check out your team's Road to Orlando.
Hopefully your favorite team will make it, but even if they don't you will not want to miss the best high school football in the nation. Many of the players that compete in the FHSAA Football Finals will surely go on to be the next stars in the NCAA and even the NFL. General admission tickets are $12, and for the first time ever you will have the ability to purchase a reserved seat. Skip the lines and guarantee yourself a seat close to all the action for only $17. Click HERE to purchase your tickets today.
For more information about the FHSAA Football Finals, visit our website at www.roadtoorlando.org or follow us on our new Road to Orlando facebook page.
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A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM BRENT |
We hope this month's Impact Report finds you well. October proved to be a very busy month with two returning events, and that activity spilled into November as we hosted a new event in Lake County.
The Sports Commission once again played host to the St. John's Collegiate Classic Golf Tournament which was held for the 10th consecutive year at the Mission Inn Resort & Club, October 21-23. The event brought in 10 men's collegiate golf teams from around the north east and Florida, ranging from New York and Maryland to Miami. The event was a great success and we have already begun plans to bring them back again next year. Over the same weekend as the Collegiate Classic, we once again hosted the Florida Rugby Union All Florida Day. 36 teams from around the state traveled to Lake County for a weekend of competition. In all, close to 1,000 people were in attendance for the event which was hosted at the Hickory Point Soccer Complex for the 5th year in a row.
 We started off November with a bang by hosting the FHSAA State Golf Championships, which was staged for the first time in Lake County. The two-day championship was held November 1-2 using both Las Colinas and El Campion courses at Mission Inn, as well as Deer Island Country Club in Tavares and Harbor Hills Country Club in Leesburg. With 396 golfers and nearly 1,000 coaches and spectators traveling to Lake County, this event is expected to generate approximately $500,000 in economic impact for the county. We look forward to welcoming the FHSAA State Golf Championships back to Lake County again next year, and hopefully many more to come.
Thank you for your continued support and have a great November!
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Best Regards,
Brent Nelson
Interim Executive Director
Central Florida Sports Commission  |
| ECONOMIC IMPACT | |
Through September, 2011
Hotel Room Nights: 307
Tax Recovery: $ 3,519.52
Economic Impact: $ 159,340.50
Number of Participants: 128
Number of Spectators: 46
Number of Events: 1
Year to Date, 2011
Hotel Room Nights: 3,454
Tax Recovery: $41,986.84
Economic Impact: $2,042,143.11
Number of Participants: 1,907
Number of Spectators: 4,734
Number of Events: 9
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| IN THE PIPELINE | |
As mentioned in last month's impact report, the Sports Commission recently sent representation to Colorado Springs, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada to network with national event organizers such as USA Gymnastics, USA Figure Skating, USA Diving, USA Volleyball, USA Water Polo and USA Triathlon, just to name few. As a result of our meetings, several national and regional event opportunities for future years are being evaluated and researched for venues within Lake County. Stay tuned on which opportunities pan out for venues within Volusia County!
One particular lead generated from our trips to the West Coast was the opportunity to work with USA Water Polo on some future events. USA Water Polo is eager to strengthen its presence in Florida, specifically Central Florida, so we hoping to bid on and/or create some new events with them in potentially Lake County. Multiple aquatics venues would have to be utilized should we attempt to host some regional or national events with USA Water Polo.
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| WINS & LOSSES | |
(as of October, 2011)
Formal Bids Submitted: 4
Total Bids Won: 2
Total Bids Lost: 1
Staying on the business development front, the Sports Commission plans to spend the remaining balance of 2011, along with the early stages of 2012, focused on developing some new event opportunities, while lending our support to some existing events that are already taking place in Lake County.
First, last year Olympic Tri-athlete Jarrod Shoemaker staged the Clermont Challenge at Lake Louisa State Park. The event brought in top tri-athletes from all over the world to South Lake County and this year we are looking provide Jarrod with some additional support and resource. We hope that Jarrod and his team will consider hosting the event in 2012 and hopefully many more years to come in Lake County.
In addition, the Sports Commission is working with the Economic Development and Tourism Department, along with the newly formed Lake County Rowing Club, to develop a rowing venue in Lake County, potentially in South Lake. Many of the details are currently being researched but the ultimate goal is to build a world class rowing venue that could accommodate local programming, but also be accessible for team training opportunities and potentially regattas. Stay tuned!
Lastly, the Sports Commission has been in touch with Exceed Sports about hosting one or more softball events in our community. Exceed Sports organizes both charity and youth fastpitch softball tournament and is interested in working with the Sports Commission on staging some future events. Our discussions are still very preliminary, so we will be sure to update you on any progress made with this organization.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS | |
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| | COMMUNITY PROFILE | |
The Sports Commission would like to congratulate Chet and Gigi Lemon for the groundbreaking of their new sports complex, The Big House. The Big House will be a state of the art facility that will consist of 9 basketball courts, 16 volleyball courts, 14 outdoor beach volleyball courts, 12 batting cages, as well as a Major League infield, health and wellness center, salon, pro shop and retail center. A lot of time and effort from the Lemon's and their team has gone into this project over the last couple of years. This new venue should provide a huge boost to the Lake County economy and put the county on the map as one of the best sports areas in the country. For more information on the Big House, please check out their website at www.bighouseusa.com.
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