Alliance Committee Will Use Grants to Entice Sports Events

Alliance Committee Will Use Grants to Entice Sports Events

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, November 06, 2010

chamber A new committee will focus on attracting sports events to the Williamsburg area, in hopes of getting some of the associated cash that comes from athletes, their parents and coaches.

The six-member Sports Grant Review committee will award grants from the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance to encourage sports organizations to bring their tournaments and training camps to Williamsburg. The Alliance has established $75,000 in funding to attract sports events.

The grant committee will have six members, including officials from the area’s three economic development authorities. The members include Monty Mason, chairman of the City of Williamsburg Economic Development Authority; Steve Montgomery, EDA member of the James City County Economic Authority; Jim Noel, director of economic development for York County; Jeff Baumgardner, general manager of Crowne Plaza Williamsburg at Fort Magruder; Wayne Nooe, vice president of golf and club operations at Kingsmill Resort and chair of Sports Williamsburg; and Bob Harris, vice president of tourism for the Alliance.

The program’s goal is to attract amateur and professional sporting events to the Williamsburg area, which in turn promotes year-round tourism and a positive economic impact on the region. The average family traveling for a sporting event spends $789, according to research conducted by the National Association of Sports Commissions. The sports market segment, especially amateur youth events, continues to be one of the fastest growing tourism market segments in the U.S., according to the Alliance.

With that in mind, the Alliance has put $75,000 aside to fund the Sports Marketing Event Grant Program in its first year. The grants are available for athletic events, such as games, exhibitions, tournaments and other sports-related events planned, presented and played in the area.

Applicants will be required to provide information on the event organization, history, plan and schedule, along with projections of the anticipated amount of participants and spectators, lodging room nights and a marketing plan that includes estimated expenses. No later than 90 days after the event, grant recipients will have to provide documentation of the event’s direct impact on the area, including verification of room nights generated, in order to receive the grant funds.

The Alliance organized Sports Williamsburg in March to further focus its efforts to attract sporting events. The 31-member committee is made up of representatives from local sports facilities, sports clubs and organizations, area parks and recreation divisions, tourism and hospitality executives and members of the business community.

Comments

0 #7 Guest 2010-11-07 14:55

Come on, folks. It's undeniably true that sports is a growing market segment -- so, why not put funds in to help generate business within this segment? Isn't that the way business works? And looking at other sports destinations, 75K isn't that big of a deal. Out facilities may be limited (as compared to other areas), but we are a tourism destination. This benefits us. Skeptics -- before you pass judgment, let's wait and see how this turns out. Negativity doesn't help anything.

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+2 #6 Guest 2010-11-07 08:03

I agree with all efforts to bring sport activities to this area I am a bit curious of this effort. Where exactly did the Alliance get an "extra" $75000.00 to provide incentives for events and their impact on this area? This amounts to a commission or rebate and seems redundant when we have already hired sales people in the Alliance. Keep in mind folks, most of the money the Alliance has comes from tax money from the local governments and,when spent,is often diverted from it's original budget.

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+3 #5 Guest 2010-11-07 00:46

The Warhill Sports Complex has already proven itself as a HUGE draw for sporting events and is highly marketable. HOWEVER, the county needs to address the TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE getting out of that facility when big events are taking place. Traffic has been backed up from Longhill Road all the way back to the WISC parking lot. Even on days when local kids are playing regularly scheduled soccer and baseball games, I have sat for 10 minutes trying to exit onto Longhill Road. A new exit needs to be made available or another stoplight installed. At the very least, arrangements should always be made for a person to manage exiting traffic when large sporting events are taking place. We're Williamsburg, after all, home of hospitality--ri ght? Let's have our guests leave on a positive note with a desire to come back.

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+2 #4 Guest 2010-11-06 14:15

I couldn't agree more with #1 and #2. How do we make it happen?

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+2 #3 Guest 2010-11-06 11:20

If this committee follows the usual Chamber s.o.p. there will be meetings, expensive consultants, more meetings, executive lunches, more meetings, delays, more meetings, and ultimately
another slick, but ineffective marketing brochure blindly sent around the country.

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+4 #2 Guest 2010-11-06 10:51

KUDOS to #1!....this thinker speaks with understanding. knowledge and a bit of inspiration. And there has to be at least one person "out and about our town/county", with influence, power and $$$, who can bring to fruition a 'great big Olympic-size pool' here to attract what our youth have needed for sooo long in the national sports combination of swimming and diving!!

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+5 #1 Guest 2010-11-06 08:38

Someone really needs to take a serious look at building a 50 meter pool in the Williamsburg area. Not only could the pool be used by all the area swim teams (year-round, summer, school), but the venue could then host major competitions as well. A few years ago, they had a Virginia state championship meet in NC, due to the lack of appropriate pools in this state. Williamsburg already has the infrastructure needed to support major sporting events - hotels and restaurants, now all we need is the pool. Expensive initially? Yes, but it would more than make up for the cost in the long run, and in the boon to the economy that would come with it.

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