Lawrence state-of-the-art sports facilities not only bring in premiere athletes and competitions, but also money from visitors to boost local economy.
| 2017 Q3 | story by Mike Anderson, photos by Steven Hertzog
200 players, coaches, parents and scouts recently watched a team from Missouri play a team from Iowa, all on a court in Kansas. And this was just one of the many games that took place at the Hardwood Classic from July 20 through 23 at the Lawrence Sports Pavilion. One of the parents watching the game was Shannon Harney. His son Tyson played for the 16-and-under team from Nebraska. This was their first time in Lawrence, and Harney was impressed by the Sports Pavilion. “This is state-of-the-art, best [facility]I’ve been to,” he says. This comment holds a fair amount of weight considering Harney and son have already been to nine similar tournaments around the country this year, and will hit a dozen before the season is finished.
But, before you think this tournament is just filled with Midwestern teams, think again. While Harney and his son may be from Oakland, Nebraska, they’re not the only Oakland team being represented this weekend. The Oakland Soldiers, from California, were one of the favorites to win in the 17-and-under division. Their coach, Kris Weems, grew up in Kansas City before playing for Stanford University. He referred to the Sports Pavilion as the nicest they’ve played in and, more importantly, the safest. With extra room under the baskets, he doesn’t have to worry about his kids banging into a wall when going to save a ball or going up for an epic fast-break block.
Jim Hart brought his team from Albany, New York. He calls our facility “second to none” and applauds it for its size and convenience. This tournament was particularly important to coach Hart because of the teams he gets to play. His team has a contract with Nike, which means, in the majority of tournaments in which they plays, they only play other teams sponsored by Nike. “You get to know the same teams pretty well because you’re always playing them, but with this tournament, I also get to play teams from Under Armor and Adidas.”
The stakes for these players at a tournament such as this cannot be understated. As New York’s star player, Isaiah Stewart, put it, “This is a business trip.” Top coaches like Tom Izzo, Shaka Smart, Patrick Ewing and Jim Boeheim come to scout this tournament.
Chris Walker, an assistant for the University of California, Berkeley, basketball team, is glad to see a tournament like this in Kansas. “AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] tournaments are more celebrated than people think,” he explains. “And this tournament could really grow. Kansas is centrally located; they can all come to Kansas. The less money a team has to spend to travel the better.” University of Kansas (KU) fans might remember Walker as the head coach of the 2012-2013 Texas Tech University team. When asked what his last memory of Lawrence was, his answer came quickly: “A 30-point whoopin’.” Needless to say, this trip to Lawrence was a lot easier on his blood pressure. As a scout, Walker also applauded both the tournament and the facility. Chad Tower, facilities operation supervisor at Sports Pavilion Lawrence, says the Pavilion provided a meal component for all the scouts and coaches that included a hospitality room and three meals for all four days.
This event was a prime example of how sporting events can bring visitors from all across the country and raise awareness about Lawrence to the nation. City of Lawrence director of arts and culture Porter Arneill, who has lived in various cities, knows how sport plays into the identity of Lawrence. “Culturally, sports are such an important aspect of the Lawrence community. It benefits the quality of life here. The city is very cognizant of those benefits,” he explains. But another benefit is the economic influence these events can have on Lawrence and Douglas County. According to eXplore Lawrence, which provides information on Lawrence and Douglas County to its visitors, the Hardwood Classic brought in $4,751,980 in business sales from visitor spending. 1,414 jobs were supported because of the revenue of the event. The event included 5899 overnight attendees and 3176 day attendees.
And, while widely successful, the Hardwood Classic was just the appetizer to the main course that was the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics, held July 24 through 30 at Rock Chalk Park. A representative for USA Track and Field says the Junior Olympics is its premier event. “This is where Olympic athletes get their start. It’s the most competitive and highest-level youth track meet in the country. This is a highly desired event,” the rep explains. Numerically, it’s also the biggest. This year saw 8129 athletes compete at Rock Chalk Park. In comparison, the Olympic trials have only 1,000 competing athletes.
Not surprisingly, the economic influence of this event was deafening. Michael Davidson, of eXplore Lawrence, says the Junior Olympics had a $17.5-million regional impact, and a $5-million local impact. Cristie Gunn, a server at the downtown restaurant 715, called the week of the Junior Olympics the busiest she’s ever seen. “It was crazy. Every day was like Friday night,” she says. Hotel business was no different. All the hotels in the area were booked. Some of the athletes were even forced to stay in hotels near the airport.
Perhaps no one is happier to see this event than KU track and field assistant coach Wayne Pate. “You get kids on campus and give them a chance to see what Lawrence has to offer,” he says. “The football stadium didn’t meet the standards for an event like this. I want to have this (event) again, again, again.”
Coach Pate might get his wish, as there’s reason to be optimistic about these events returning. Representatives for both the Hardwood Classic and USA Track and Field praised the facilities as “first rate” and the experience of the athletes as “first class.” When deciding on a location, the USA Track and Field rep looks at four things: 1) facility, 2) local organization that is great to work with, 3) hotel base, and 4) ease of access. Lawrence scored highly on all.
While Lawrence waits for the hopeful return of the Hardwood Classic and The Junior Olympics, the facilities will certainly be kept warm. Lawrence Sports Pavilion will continue to have local and regional tournaments through December. Sports Pavilion’s Tower says the volleyball tournaments will happen December through April, where 60 to 80 volleyball teams will play every Saturday and Sunday. Lawrence also still features the KU Relays, the Downtown Olympic Shot Put event and the Gravel Grinder National Championship in June, among other events.
Let us not forget the countless sporting events charities put on to raise money. Not-for-profits commonly use golf events, 5K walk/runs, basketball tournaments and more as effective tools to fund-raise. For example, the Mario V. Chalmers Foundation annual golf event raises more than $25,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence. Local nonprofit organization Cooper’s Cause Foundation uses a 5K run and golf tournament each year to raise close to $18,000 for pediatric health patients’ families. The most recent Rock Chalk Roundball Classic raised $57,000 for five local families fighting cancer. Event organizer Brian Hanni brings in Jayhawk basketball players from several decades to entertain a sold-out crowd. Only at this event will you get to see 56-year-old Darnell Valentine throw an alley-oop for 22-year-old Ben McLemore. “This event equips KU athletes with the knowledge of what they could do with that platform,” Hanni says. The Penny Jones Golf Tournament is the annual golf event that continually raises more than $100,000 for the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association. Greg Dannevik, assistant golf operations supervisor, Eagle Bend Golf Course, says Eagle Bend hosts 50 to 60 fund-raising events a year. Tiffany Hall, the Annual Giving Manager for the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment, and her crew also use their Summer Spray 5K run/walk events to raise $5,000 for wellness grants distributed to programs or projects that effectively and resourcefully enhance local health and wellness.
The impact of sports on our local economy cannot be denied. At a time when city leaders are looking to develop new sources of revenue, these numbers are surely to get noticed. This year from July 20 to 30, roughly 18,000 young athletes came to Lawrence, the vast majority for the first time. Each brings parents, family members and/or coaches with them. Not too bad for a 10-day stint in July. With the addition of events like the Hardwood Classic and the Junior Olympics, perhaps we’re starting to turn our passion into a profit.
43 Comments
Thanks for the marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you’re a great
author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and will come back at some point.
I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great
posts, have a nice evening!
Hmm it seems like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I
guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say,
I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog
blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for newbie blog writers?
I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Say, you got a nice blog post. Awesome.
Peculiar article, just what I was looking for.
Hi, I read your new stuff like every week. Your writing style is witty,
keep it up!
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your
blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer
to create your theme? Exceptional work!
Hi there! This post could not be written much better!
Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
He continually kept preaching about this. I am going to send this article to him.
Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Unquestionably imagine that that you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be at
the web the simplest thing to take note of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed at the same time as people
consider concerns that they plainly don’t understand about.
You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest as well as outlined out the entire thing with no need side effect , other folks can take a signal.
Will probably be again to get more. Thanks
Outstanding story there. What occurred after?
Good luck!
It’s remarkable in favor of me to have a website, which is valuable
in favor of my know-how. thanks admin
This is the right website for anyone who would like to find out about this topic.
You realize a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I personally would want to…HaHa).
You definitely put a new spin on a topic which has been written about for a long time.
Great stuff, just excellent!
I was recommended this web site by way of my cousin. I’m not sure whether this publish is written via
him as no one else understand such distinct approximately my difficulty.
You are wonderful! Thank you!
Hello There. I discovered your blog using msn. This is
a really smartly written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read extra of your helpful info.
Thanks for the post. I’ll certainly return.
I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet
visitors, its really really good article on building up new website.
This paragraph is truly a fastidious one it assists new web
users, who are wishing for blogging.
I’ve been browsing online more than 2 hours today, yet I
never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty
worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will
be a lot more useful than ever before.
I really like what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever
work and exposure! Keep up the awesome works guys I’ve included
you guys to blogroll.
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your
articles? I mean, what you say is important and everything.
Nevertheless imagine if you added some great graphics or videos to give your posts more, “pop”!
Your content is excellent but with pics and clips,
this site could undeniably be one of the very best in its
field. Excellent blog!
Wonderful blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News.
Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Cheers
Hello would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re
utilizing? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different web browsers and I
must say this blog loads a lot faster then most.
Can you recommend a good web hosting provider at a fair price?
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Awesome article.
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text
in your article seem to be running off the screen in Opera.
I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but
I thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though!
Hope you get the problem solved soon. Many thanks
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the layout
of your site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This paragraph posted at this site is actually nice.
Right here is the perfect website for anyone who
wishes to find out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I
actually will need to…HaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a topic that has been written about for ages.
Excellent stuff, just excellent!
It’s actually very difficult in this active life to listen news on TV,
so I only use the web for that purpose, and take the latest information.
Hi there! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new
apple iphone! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your
posts! Carry on the excellent work!
After I originally commented I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments
are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment is added I get four
emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there
is a way you are able to remove me from that service?
Thank you!
Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found a sea
shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter
and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed.
There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She
never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!
It’s fantastic that you are getting thoughts from this paragraph as well as from our argument made at this time.
Why viewers still make use of to read news papers when in this technological world
everything is accessible on net?
Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one!
It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors!
Attractive element of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to claim that I acquire actually loved
account your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing on your feeds or even I achievement
you get admission to persistently fast.
Appreciation to my father who told me on the topic of this website, this webpage is genuinely awesome.
Hey this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs
use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I
wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be enormously appreciated!
I always used to study post in news papers but now as I am a user of
net so from now I am using net for content, thanks
to web.
I have read so many content about the blogger lovers except this piece of writing is truly a good paragraph, keep it up.
It’s really a great and useful piece of info. I’m glad that
you simply shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this.
Thanks for sharing.
If you desire to take a good deal from this piece of
writing then you have to apply such techniques to your won blog.
Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard
on. Any tips?
Somebody necessarily assist to make seriously articles I might state.
This is the first time I frequented your
web page and so far? I surprised with the analysis you made to make this actual publish incredible.
Great task!
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this
web site before but after looking at some of the articles I realized it’s new to me.
Nonetheless, I’m certainly delighted I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking
it and checking back often!
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an very long comment but after I
clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all
that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say superb blog!