Downtown Tucsonan - May 2008 - (Page 10)

Vital Signs A m at e u r At h l e t i c s d r aw i n g new visitors to TCC, Downtown By Lee Allen ince trinidad is a one-of-a-kind guy in the truest sense of the word. the 37-year-old university of arizona graduate plays a unique part in the world of amateur sports in his job as sports development director for the Metropolitan tucson convention and Visitors Bureau. “when I began work in september 2005 to build a sports department, the effort to bring in regional and national sporting groups and events to the tucson convention center was viewed as an untapped market with a lot of potential,” he says. that perception has turned into reality in the intervening years. “tucson is blessed with having a rich history of hosting amateur athletic competition at the university and community college levels. we wanted to build on that to show this city as an athletic destination with the capacity and wherewithal to host a variety of events. we look at a variety of different sports and never know where one sport will take you, when one activity will lead to another. there’s a commonality in the athletic world that most sporting groups know each other and share resources and our growing successes are getting the word out that tucson is a great destination. some sporting groups will go to tier one cities like atlanta, chicago, or Los angeles, where they become just one of many events. when you come to tucson, you’re going to be the number one sports focus in your category and we wrap our arms about these groups to make sure their events go as planned.” according to trinidad, tucson has four sports that do very well here, marquee events in the world of amateur athletics: baseball, softball, soccer, and tennis. “tucson is a gold destination for these forms of recreation,” he says. one of the biggest successes in attracting amateur events to tucson came shortly after trinidad arrived here. “one of our biggest kudos involved fencing and by working closely with all levels of that sport from local to state to national and even the international fencing organizations, we were pleased to bring in two north american championship events,” he says. “we brought two events to tcc in the fall of 2007…both had an estimated minimum 1,000 athletes and both resulted in a positive economic impact to the community, in excess of $1,000,000 for each event.” Feedback indicates the groups and athletes enjoyed the venue and negotiations are underway to have the fencing community back V with tucson included as one of their rotation cities. “we want to dance with them again,” trinidad says. Initial successes begat other successes and “collectively we’re showing tucson has a capacity to host many regional and national events. Recent ua diving accolades helped us secure an international junior diving event that will bring twenty teams from around the world here in 2010. “Fans will also see two large events here this summer. a usa Volleyball higher performance championship is planned here in July with an estimated 2,000 participants from 70 national and international teams. and in early august, we’ll have the american Bicycle association southwest national BMX competition, a timed event on a dirt course to be built inside tcc where 1,300 riders vie to be the best. this is a great fit for sports at tcc, especially in the summertime a one-two punch,” he says. “Vince and his approach to attracting new audiences to our venue is just short of totally brilliant,” says tcc director Rich singer. “amateur athletics participants don’t require the downtown five-star hotels often needed to attract traditional convention business. they’re willing to book the facilities we currently offer and the sports-tcc partnership turns into a good one they get a place to play and we get a reason to turn on the lights on an otherwise dark night.” trinidad attributes the growing amateur athletics interest in tucson to both place and people. “tucson convention center is my largest indoor venue and one of the best indoor facilities I can promote to any amateur sports category. Rather than looking at tcc as a traditional show location, a place to set up ten by ten trade show booths, I look at it through the eyes of various sports participants, from volleyball to indoor archery. we take the resources we have at the facility and match them up with varying group needs.” two specific examples of creating an indoor environment to match the needs of a specific sport: building bowling lanes inside tcc for kegler competition and constructing a dirt course inside the arena for BMX bike riders. also necessary to the success of the mission are all the support players who work collectively to make things happen. “our accomplishments are the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, different parties that work together food shops, hotels, a myriad 10 downtown tucsonan.may.08

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Downtown Tucsonan - May 2008 Contents From the Editor Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performances Vital Signs Continued Events Film Museums Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - May 2008

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