Author: Alexandra

  • Hundreds of BMX racers compete this weekend at Park Board’s Spokes BMX Raceway

    Hundreds of BMX racers compete this weekend at Park Board’s Spokes BMX Raceway

    https://www.parkboard.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=288

  • Sports Commission BigShots Golf Challenge

    Sports Commission BigShots Golf Challenge

    Sporting KC to sponsor Springfield Sports Commission BigShots Golf Challenge on July 13

    By Sam Kovzan @skovzan

    Monday, Jun 28, 2021, 09:55 AM

    Big Shots

    The Springfield Sports Commission has announced the inaugural Springfield Sports Commission BigShots Golf Challenge, presented by Sporting Kansas City.

    The new event will see Sporting Kansas City lead an afternoon of golf, food and fun on Tuesday, July 13 at BigShots Golf in Springfield, Missouri.

    Perfect for business outings and family gatherings alike, the BigShots Golf Challenge supports the Springfield Sports Commission’s mission to help create economic impact through sports.

    Sporting Kansas City will highlight the event with a variety of prize giveaways, including autographed jerseys, signed soccer balls, specialty raffles and tickets to future home matches at Children’s Mercy Park.

    Sporting KC mascot Blue, the new Fountain City Foosball players and brand ambassadors will engage with guests and have their own bay where golfers will have the chance to participate in a unique challenge.

    The BigShots Golf Challenge will feature classic game play, tournament style challenges and individual contests for all participants. Two time slots are open for golfers, from 2-4 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. To learn more about the event and to register, click here.

    FansSupportersSporting Kansas City

  • Venue Agreements Extended for High School Events

    Venue Agreements Extended for High School Events

                                                                         

    News Release – April 20, 2021

    Contacts:

    Venue Agreements Extended for High School Events

    Springfield, Missouri – The Missouri State High School Activities Association announced today it has extended multiple post-season host venue agreements, including five in Springfield.

    The extensions were put in place because of the changes and cancellations of championship events that occurred last year. In efforts to curtail the spread of the virus causing the pandemic, MSHSAA’s spring 2020 sports and scholar bowl seasons were lost; basketball, music and speech and debate were truncated; and significant modifications were made to all sports and activity seasons during the 2020-21 school year.

    Lance Kettering, executive director of the Springfield Sports Commission, expressed gratitude for the extensions that will bring thousands of students and their families to the city.

    “We greatly appreciate the opportunity to host MSHSAA Championship events in Springfield,” Kettering said. “Thank you to the MSHSAA staff and board of directors for extending the agreements. Furthermore, we thank MSHSAA for their tireless efforts to create championship opportunities for the student athletes during a very challenging time.”

    One-year extensions went to Springfield for fall and spring softball, baseball and basketball along with a two-year extension for speech and debate. Other extensions include one year of football and wrestling and two years of music to Columbia and a two-year extension of track and field to Jefferson City.

    The MSHSAA board of directors unanimously approved the extensions at its April board meeting.

    “We have been fortunate to have great partners in all of our host communities,” said MSHSAA executive director Dr. Kerwin Urhahn. “These partners have worked with their respective communities when putting together their initial proposal bids. We felt the appropriate path was to give these communities more time to carry out their original plans.”

    For more information about amateur sports events booked in the city by the Springfield Sports Commission, visit www.SpringfieldMo.org/sports or call 417-881-5300.

    The Springfield Sports Commission is a nonprofit organization managed by the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The organizations work to improve the local economy through growth in travel and tourism to the city.

  • MSHSAA Boys State Soccer Championships to be played in Springfield

    MSHSAA Boys State Soccer Championships to be played in Springfield

  • NCHBC Extended Until 2025

    NCHBC Extended Until 2025

    Date: April 15, 2020

    B-roll: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1h70eH8B9DU6oLcqCak6E0we5IYsqrvx0

    Contacts:

    CITY’S LARGEST ANNUAL GROUP EVENT EXTENDS CONTRACT BY THREE YEARS

    Springfield, Missouri – After being forced to cancel the 2020 event due to the pandemic crisis, the organizer of the National Christian HomeSchool Basketball Championships signed a contract to bring the event to Springfield for an additional three years.

    That’s much needed good news for the local leisure and hospitality industry, said Tracy Kimberlin, president/CEO of the Convention & Visitors Bureau.

    “The local industry is suffering tremendous losses right now,” Kimberlin said. “I’m glad we have some good news to share.”

    Lance Kettering, executive director of the Springfield Sports Commission, which is managed by the CVB, said he is pleased the contract was extended.

    “The NCHBC has been a great partner and we are thrilled to announce a three-year extension that will keep the event in Springfield until at least 2025,” Kettering said. “The event brings in more than $4.5 million in spending annually and is very important to our sports tourism efforts in Springfield.

    “We took the opportunity during the COVID crisis to further our partnership and commitment to host the event in Springfield and we are looking forward to many more years of working together to bring over 350 teams, 3,500 basketball players and 8,000 to 10,000 folks to Springfield annually in March each year.”

    Springfield has been home to the tournament – the city’s largest annual event – since 2009. The 2020 tournament was canceled in March due to the COVID-19 crisis.

    “We are thrilled to have extended our national championship to be in Springfield through 2025,” said event organizer Tim Flatt. “It is fantastic to work with a city that appreciates what the NCHBC brings to the local community.”

    This is one of many events brought to the city through the efforts of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Springfield Sports Commission, nonprofit marketing organizations dedicated to improving the local economy through growth in travel and tourism. For more information, call 417-881-5300 or visit new.springfieldmosports.org/ or www.SpringfieldMO.org.

  • Southwest Missouri Rush Update

    Southwest Missouri Rush Update

    Big news coming from our friends at Lake Country Soccer and Rush Soccer.

    Lake Country Soccer has partnered with FC Legacy, Magic Soccer Club, and other soccer organizations in Southwest Missouri, to form Southwest MO Rush.

    Lake Country Soccer will also be working in coordination with the Springfield Sports Commission for a new soccer event by inviting many of the 100 Rush affiliate clubs to Springfield for an annual event. With Rush Clubs throughout the region, teams will be invited to Springfield for a chance to compete and share fellowship with Rush players and coaches from throughout the region

    More information on this and the Rush Soccer affiliation can be found in the Press Release linked below.

    SWMO Rush press release

  • “Memo to Tourism Leaders: Time to Double Down on Sports”

    “Memo to Tourism Leaders: Time to Double Down on Sports”

    Dear Friends of the Springfield Sports Commission:
    I hope this note finds you healthy and well. Sports Connects People and the Springfield Sports Commission is continuing to market Springfield as a top destination for sport. Springfield is resilient and will rebound. In our opinion, sports can lead the way to moving our community forward and we look forward to being a part of that recovery.
    Many, but not all of you, attended the Springfield Sports Commission Strategic Planning and Springfield Facilities analysis presentations in June and October 2019. Those studies were led by Jon Schmeider of the Huddle Up Group, a national consulting firm based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Jon provided a message below to share with our friends in sports tourism efforts in our community. We  hope you enjoy this professional perspective on our industry.
    Sports Connects People and we look forward to continuing to be connected to you through sports!
    Be well,
    Lance Kettering, Executive Director
    Katie Johnson, Assistant Director
    PS – For those of you interested in reviewing the Springfield Sports Commission reports, you can view both of them at https://springfieldmosports.org/news/
    ===

    “Memo to Tourism Leaders: Time to Double Down on Sports”

    Dear Tourism Leaders,

    As sports tourism professionals, we know the value of this market to the destinations and organizations we work alongside.  Today we write to you to make the case to use sports tourism as a way to push through the challenging times that are upon us.

    Depending who you listen to, the youth sports travel market is worth between $15 and $18 billion annually in our country.  The consistent growth of our industry over the past 20 years is unprecedented.  There are more communities investing in sports tourism marketing than ever before (more than 550 as members of SportsETA, formerly the NASC, at last count).  The sports tourism industry is relatively immune to market trends.  Our industry grew after 9/11.  It grew during the recession of 2008 to 2010.  These factors have led many of your organizations (CVBs, sports commissions, cities, or counties) to pursue the growing and stable business that has been sports tourism.

    While today’s reality is different for us all, the facts of the matter have not changed.  Our vertical is more resilient than any other tourism sector.  Here is why we should be puttingsports tourism in focus.

    • This past week, we surveyed over 50 tourism organizations and asked them one simple question – “What percentage of the tourism business that is booked in your community is related to sports.”  The average answer?  54%.  The fact that our segment of the tourism industry is (and has been) driving a large part of the business to your destinations cannot be ignored.
    • Sports event organizers book in shorter windows than any other tourism sector.  Thus, these partners will be able to drive your destination business faster when this pandemic comes to an end.
    • Sports event organizers make multi-year commitments more often than the other tourism sectors.  This means your sports partners can not only book soon, but they can book often, filling your future pipeline and delivering value to your hospitality industry partners.
    • Hosting sporting events offers far more exposure for a destination.  Sporting competitions, even the smaller ones, often bring with them vast social media followings and also deliver promotion through traditional media outlets.  This type of “earned media” is something that very few can afford to buy.

    The points we have outlined above are the business case for why tourism leaders across the country need to carefully evaluate the decisions that are in front of them.  Across the board cuts without considering who can drive business back to our communities sooner rather than later would be short sighted.  Above and beyond the business case, there are additional factors as to why we need to keep investing in the sports market.

    • Sustaining a high level of health and wellness in our country is mission critical for us as a society.  Sports tourism plays a huge role in this for our kids and our families.  If you don’t have anyone in place to help facilitate bringing tournaments to your destination (due to staff cuts), when the pandemic is over, your local teams will have to travel to gain access to solid competitions.  Further, with the high level of competition in the sports tourism market, if you don’t continue to compete for these events, even during this unprecedented time, one of those other 550 cities will gladly seize that business.
    • Sports has a higher level of social impact on our country than most anything else.  Sports connects us, it gets us through troubling times in our local communities and across the nation.  Sports will be the connective tissue that brings us all out of this just like it has done in times of war, during 9/11, and through multiple economic downturns.

    The business case along with the positive social aspects of the sports tourism industry point to sustaining our investment in sports tourism today.  Tourism leaders need to double down on an important market – sports.  The destinations that will come out of this the strongest will be the ones that protect their sports assets today.  They will keep their staff on board to reschedule postponed events and to book new ones for 2021 and beyond.  They will keep their sports marketing budgets intact, so our sports tourism professionals can continue to pursue new business in the near term to drive value back to our hospitality partners who are in dire need of our help.

    Today is a day for perspective.  Yes, changes need to take place, and we need to make smart decisions for our organizations.  Today we implore tourism industry leaders to look deep at where their business comes from and to double down on a market that generates the most social and economic impact for your communities – SPORTS.

    Hope you all have a great week ahead, and that you all choose to double down on sports tourism.

    Yours in Sport,

    Jon Schmieder
    Founder + CEO
    Huddle Up Group
    Jon@HuddleUpGroup.com
  • Protected: Huddle Up Group – Springfield Sports Facility Report (9/18/19)

    Protected: Huddle Up Group – Springfield Sports Facility Report (9/18/19)

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  • Protected: Huddle Up Group – Springfield Sports Tourism Report (10/17/19)

    Protected: Huddle Up Group – Springfield Sports Tourism Report (10/17/19)

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  • US Baseball Park to Host Extra Year of MSHSAA Baseball

    US Baseball Park to Host Extra Year of MSHSAA Baseball

    Missouri State High School Activities Association 

    1 N. Keene Street, Columbia, MO 65201-6645 ◆ P.O. Box 1328, Columbia, MO 65205-1328 Phone (573) 875-4880 ◆ Fax (573) 875-1450 ◆ www.mshsaa.org ◆ email@mshsaa.org 

    Dr. Kerwin Urhahn, Executive Director Stacy Schroeder, Associate Executive Director Davine Davis, Assistant Executive Director Kevin Garner, Assistant Executive Director Craig Long, Chief Financial Officer Don Maurer, Assistant Executive Director Lou Mazzocco, Assistant Executive Director Kenny Seifert, Assistant Executive Director Greg Stahl, Assistant Executive Director Jason West, Communications Director 

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jason West Date: September 4, 2019 Phone: (573) 875-4880 

    MSHSAA Baseball Championship to U.S. BallPark 

    COLUMBIA, Mo. – U.S. Ballpark in Ozark, Mo. will host the 2020 Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Baseball Championships. The park was awarded the championships for the 2021-25 seasons earlier this year. 

    For the past seven seasons, the River City Rascals have hosted the championships at CarShield Field in O’Fallon. The Rascals recently completed their final season and were not able to complete the final year of their hosting agreement. 

    “We are very grateful to the Rascals for their assistance in putting on our championships,” said Dr. Kerwin Urhahn, MSHSAA Executive Director. “At the same time, we are excited to showcase our championships in a venue like U.S. Ballpark. We are confident that Mark and his staff will help continue to make the MSHSAA Championships a top-notch event.” 

    The MSHSAA Championships return to southwest Missouri, as Springfield’s Meador Park hosted several championships including from 1968-71, 1973, 1975 and 2007-12. This year’s championships will be June 1-6, 2020. 

    “Bringing the MSHSAA State Baseball Championships back to our region will no doubt be well received,” said Mark Stratton, U.S. Baseball Park general manager. “We are very pleased and appreciative of the support of the U.S. Baseball Park management team and their commitment to bring this prestigious event to southwest Missouri.” 

    U.S. Baseball Park, a 501(c) 3 entity, is a 4,000 plus-seat stadium in Ozark. U.S. Baseball Park features a turf playing surface and also features a state-of-the-art video board. U.S. Baseball Park is also home to Drury University Baseball, Show-Me Collegiate League, Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, and Heart of America Conference Tournament. U.S. Baseball Park hosts over 200 events annually. 

    – MSHSAA – 

    “The MSHSAA promotes the value of participation, sportsmanship, team play and personal excellence to develop citizens who make positive contributions to their community and support the democratic principles of our state and nation.”