National Volleyball event selects Atlanta as new home

ATLANTA, Georgia (March 3, 2005) --- The second largest girls' volleyball event in North America, held on a single weekend in one location, has found a new home in the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Officials from Tampa Volleyball Events and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau announced today that the former ASICS Tampa Bay National Qualifier will relocate to Atlanta, making its debut as the ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South National Volleyball Qualifier from March 25-27, 2005. The move comes on the heels of an increasingly strong growth pattern over the past decade, forcing tournament officials to take the multi-million event to new surroundings to accommodate that growth. 

   The event is officially sanctioned by USA Volleyball, national governing body of the sport, as one of nine national qualifier tournaments leading to the USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball Championships to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah in June 2005. In 2004, of the 612 teams entered in the event, 26 received bids to the national championship held in Houston, Texas. Tampa Bay Juniors, the host club of the ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Qualifier, claimed the gold medal in the 16-Club age division at the national Junior Olympics in 2004, the first-ever in the State of Florida. The team hopes to qualify for the 2005 Junior Olympics this year through their participation in the ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Qualifier in Atlanta. In past years, teams from 27 states were represented, in addition to teams from Puerto Rico. The top Junior Olympic teams in the U.S. travel annually to these qualifying tournaments, to compete for a championship bid to the Junior Olympics and to soak in the local entertainment that the host city has to offer. 

   "The move to Atlanta signifies the tremendous level of growth and participation in the sport of girls' volleyball, and the need for us to seek out larger and more accommodating environments that are capable of hosting such highly competitive events," said Lauri Dagostino, Executive Director of Tampa Volleyball Events based in Tampa, Fla., the promoter of the event. "The City of Atlanta made a strong case for hosting these types of tourism-driven events, that translate into additional revenue for hotels, airlines and local restaurants," she added. 

   "Atlanta is excited to welcome the participants of this year's ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Qualifier," said Spurgeon Richardson, president of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Youth sports represent an important segment within the meeting and convention business and this event is no exception. With the sports facilities of a world-class city, more than 12,000 hotel rooms within walking distance from the Georgia World Congress Center and the legacy of the Centennial Olympic Games, Atlanta is a great fit," he added. 

   Organizers estimate that the participants will occupy nearly 12,000 hotel rooms, drive close to 2,000 vehicle rentals, and purchase close to 10,000 MARTA transit passes throughout the 3-day event. Close to 90 competition volleyball courts will be specially installed in the Georgia World Congress Center in less than 48 hours, more than doubling the total amount used in the 2003 USA Junior Olympic National Girls' Championships that took place in the same location. The Atlanta Sports Council estimated that the 2003 event stimulated close to $25 million in tourism revenue. The simple math indicates that local businesses can expect a much higher figure with the addition of this feather in Atlanta's sporting cap. During the past decade, the former Tampa-based event showed an estimated 15% average annual growth with estimated annual revenue of $12-14 million. Tourism authorities from the Tampa Bay area figured that total to be conservative, given the additional revenue from food, beverage, and retail sales. Event surveys indicated in the past that each of 600 teams traveling to the Tampa area spent approximately $7,500-11,000 during their stay. The 2005 estimates are closer to 800 teams, each spending $9,000-12,500. Given the increased size of the Georgia World Congress Center, and the overwhelming support from the hotel industry, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Atlanta Sports Council, event organizers expect tourism revenue to double. 

   "We researched and visited several cities, but none was as impressive in its collective effort than Atlanta," said Dagostino, who personally made site inspections to each bidding city. "We were particularly impressed by the level of professionalism and cooperation among the hotel partners that seemed to work so cooperatively while still maintaining Atlanta's best interests to stimulate new business," she said. "We have formed unprecedented, strategic partnerships in Atlanta with key hotel partners, including the Omni Hotel at CNN, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, the Westin Hotel, and the Ritz-Carlton, to name a few. Their combined efforts have been overwhelming and a true testament to the strength of the hotel community in Atlanta." 

   "We have found the hotel community in Atlanta to be one of the very best to work with in the entire country. They understand what it takes in terms of being aggressive and flexible to bring large tournaments and revenue-generating events to the city," said Tom Berkman, General Manager and Owner of the THS Company, the official tournament housing service of the event. 

   The popularity of the ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Qualifier in the national volleyball calendar has led to an increase in participants that shows no signs of letting up. Despite the proven track record of tourism impact, the event outgrew the Tampa area and in particular the Tampa Convention Center that was not able to accommodate the space requirements resulting from rapid growth. Orlando stepped into the picture in February 2004, offering up enough space and hotel rooms to accommodate nearly half of the teams involved in last year's event in its 1.2 million square foot facility, the Orange County Convention Center. However, based on the overwhelming growth of the sport, and the popularity of the event itself, organizers recognized the need to field the calls from other cities that could accommodate the entire event under one roof and were willing to partner with Tampa Bay Juniors to maximize the overwhelming tourism opportunity that seemed lost in past years. As many as five other Sports Commissions and Convention and Visitor's agencies participated in an aggressive bidding process, having recognized the tourism value of this event and others like it taking place in the sport of volleyball. Other events in the national qualifier series occupy space in venues such as the Colorado Convention Center, Minneapolis Convention Center, and the Reno/Sparks Convention Center to name a few. Each event is estimated to attract an average of 35,000 spectators throughout a 3-day tournament weekend. 

   "The City of Atlanta, and in particular, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, made it perfectly clear to us how important this tourism revenue was to the City, and have demonstrated an unprecedented level of cooperation and professionalism during the selection process," said Dagostino. "We recognize that the City of Atlanta wants to be integrally involved in the event, to protect the interests of the local tourism industry, and to show our participants that Atlanta has a great deal to offer them during their stay." 

   "The Georgia World Congress Center could not be more pleased about hosting this terrific event," said Mark Zimmerman, the center's general manager. "Our campus has served as host to the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Men and Women's Final Four and many other premier sporting events. The ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Qualifier is a great addition to this prestigious list, bringing with them thousands of competitors and spectators who will enjoy the great southern hospitality of Atlanta." 

   All this excitement comes with its own share of unique circumstances. For example, the event title for the past decade has been the "ASICS Tampa Bay National Qualifier." Event organizers have renamed the event the "Big South" Qualifier with the blessing of their title sponsor, ASICS America, the sport's leading uniform apparel and footwear manufacturer. And consider that over one million tiles of temporary court flooring will be necessary to construct close to 90 volleyball courts necessary to accommodate 6,000-7,000 athletes. The high level of interest in this event is evident in the overwhelming number of entry applications that began arriving in November 2004. 

   "Tampa Volleyball Events has done an excellent job establishing a trend in our sport that Convention Center venues can accommodate events of this type. They were the first group to host a major volleyball event in a Convention Center setting, and that move set the standard in the industry. They have produced one of the finest events in the nation with great consistency. With the resources available to them in Atlanta, ASICS is confident that the event will exceed even our expectations," said Char Taguinod, Manager, POP/POS, ASICS America Corporation, the event's title sponsor. 

   ASICS is one of several companies that recognize the importance of establishing a relationship with consumers attending the event. They realize that having a direct and uninterrupted audience with close to 7,000 of the most highly sought after consumers, girls ages 10-18, will provide their company with valuable product feedback, marketing trends, and a unique insight into the mind of the teenage girl who enjoys a fun, fit and active lifestyle. And, they will also have an audience with approximately 20,000 parents and adult spectators. 

   "From a sales standpoint, this event is a critical component in the foundation of our success. The population reached through the Tampa Bay Juniors organization and the Big South Qualifier represents the trend-setters and decision makers in the volleyball industry," said Craig Barker, President of Molten USA, an event sponsor and official volleyball used in each match. The company, based in Hiroshima, Japan with U.S. offices in Sparks, Nevada, plans to have a major presence at the event now that it has relocated to new surroundings. Molten has even hired a professional event marketing team to plan and execute their strategy upon hearing of the move to Atlanta. 

   Besides the tourism boost, this event represents a major tool that young volleyball players can use to help them gain valuable collegiate athletic scholarships. UniversityAthlete.com, an online recruiting service that provides the handheld scheduling system and text messaging used at the event, estimates that over 200 college recruiters will travel to the event, hoping to find the next great player for their university. Regardless of the athletic scholarship opportunities, over 85% of the participants at the ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Qualifier will attend a 4-year college or university. 

   "Junior volleyball was a wonderful way for me to start my formal training in the sport, and helped me gain valuable exposure that resulted in earning a college scholarship to Long Beach State University," said Misty May, 2004 Athens Olympic Gold Medalist in beach volleyball and a former participant in the event. May now volunteers her time as a junior club coach, and she has dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours to coaching youth players through her involvement as an Advisory Board member of the United States Youth Volleyball League (USYVL), the largest non-profit youth volleyball organization in the U.S. May is also the reigning World Champion on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and won an NCAA women's volleyball national championship and the Honda Broderick Award as the nation's top collegiate female athlete among her many accolades while attending Long Beach State. She graduated from the university with her bachelor's degree and credits her involvement in junior volleyball for launching her career path towards a gold medal. 

   "The City of Atlanta's rich heritage in Olympic Sports translates perfectly with an event such as the Big South Qualifier," said Sinjin Smith, who competed in the first-ever Olympic beach volleyball competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and is currently the President of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball's (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Council. "The young women who will travel to Atlanta for the event represent the future of our sport at the Olympic level. Providing these athletes with opportunities to participate in world-class events, such as the Big South Qualifier, enables them to take full advantage of the positive effects that the sport of volleyball has to offer," he added. Smith made a special appearance at the event in its previous home of Tampa, Florida, to conduct a series of free volleyball clinics for participants. His experience at the tournament prompted him to help start programs at the international level that would focus more attention on the importance of developing the junior levels of the game as a global volleyball initiative. He participated in the first-ever Olympic beach volleyball competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with then-partner, Carl Henkel, falling just short of medal contention to eventual gold medalists, Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes. He now works on behalf of the FIVB internationally, and has been involved in staging Olympic competition in Sydney, Australia (2000), Athens, Greece (2004), and will be in Beijing, China in 2008. 

   The 2005 ASICS/Tampa Bay Big South Junior National Volleyball Qualifier will take place from March 25-27 in Hall B of the Georgia World Congress Center. Event partneres include ASICS America Corporation, Molten USA, AVIS, Air Tran, M.A.R.T.A., UniversityAthlete.com, SignUpToPlay.com, Water Marque, Porter Athletic Equipment, Midwest Volleyball Warehouse and Volleyball Magazine among others. USA Volleyball will host its High Performance Youth and Junior National Team try-out on Thursday, March 24 in conjunction with the event, providing kids in the Atlanta-area with an opportunity to become part of the U.S. National Volleyball Team high performance program. An exhibitor expo will be held daily to showcase the latest technology in the sport of volleyball, along with free promotions and samples from a host of other companies interested in reaching the female consumer market. The event is free to the public, and daily hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.