TEAM SEMINOLE would like to wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday season!

The 2011 ECNL Winter Showcase is finally here! Taking place December 28 -30, the soccer showcase tournament is expected to have an estimated 150 teams and over 3,000 participants in attendance! Sylvan Lake Park, Seminole Soccer Complex, and Central Winds Park are all getting their facilities ready to host 80 games per day between the three (3) venues over the course of the event. Over 200 college coaches from some of the country's top college programs will be on hand scouting many of the top girls' players participating. We invite you to come out and watch one of the country's premiere girls club soccer events!

Looking back, the 1st Annual Families in Transition (FIT) Charity Golf Tournament was recently staged at Mayfair Country Club on November 18. The event was a huge success and raised over $5,000 for FIT, which will directly help children in need of support in the county. Over 60 golfers participated and a big thank you goes out to Stan and Kim Van Gundy for sponsoring the event! The Sports Commission was proud to support the first annual event, and look forward to playing a more prominent role next year!

In other news, Lake Brantley High School alumni, brothers and Major League Baseball players Ricky and Jemile Weeks are conducting a holiday baseball clinic on December 17 at Lake Brantley High School. The two brothers have had tremendous success in the majors and want to pass along their knowledge to area youth, 7 to 19 year olds. For more information, or to register please visit http://weeksiisuccess.org/

As always, please do not hesitate to call should you have any questions and we look forward to partnering with TEAM SEMINOLE to generate more great sports activity in Seminole County.

Happy Holidays!

Year to Date (through October of 2011)

Hotel Room Nights: 6,078

Tax Recovery: $74,562.07

Economic Impact:  $7,920,887.75

Number of Participants: 4,429

Number of Spectators: 4,128

Number of Events: 8

The Sports Commission has recently been in discussions with the University of Central Florida ultimate frisbee team about the creation of an invitational tournament  for next January.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of commitment from teams to potentially participate, it appears this event will unlikely take place.  This is likely a result of not having enough time to market the event to travel teams located across the United States.  The UCF team is going to turn its focus on putting on the tournament for 2013, with the goal of drawing approximately 40 men's and 24 women's teams for a 2 day tournament.  Should the tournament take place in January, we will provide a recap in the February impact report.

In addition, the next two (2) months will find the Sports Commission working with the Seminole County CVB and Leisure Services Department on reviewing our current countywide venues and see how they match up with the ever changing sports landscape.  To stay competitive in the sports marketplace, TEAM Seminole needs to know what our potential event clients are looking for when it comes to venue requirements.  That said, we are going to be reaching out to event organizers across the United States to gauge what sports infrastructure Seminole County might need to host their future regional, national or international sporting events.  Sports initially targeted include soccer, fast and slow pitch softball, youth baseball, rugby, flag football and rugby, just to name a few.