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10/3/2012 8:35:10 AM

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By Ed Hruska
Ed Hruska

	Upcoming events Oct. 13-14: MYSA fall state soccer tournament Oct 19-20: Exchange Volleyball Tournament Oct. 28: Intermat JJ Classic Wrestling: October 28

Over the past few months our office has been researching, prioritizing and preparing bids for future national tournaments. Hopeful we can win the chance to host these prestigious events. As of last Friday most of these bids have been submitted.

We would like to host any and all events that we hear about but due to requirements, venue limitations and financial commitments that we cannot provide – we have to choose our best options wisely. We also must pursue national tournaments in which our area has strong representation. Sports such as water polo, field hockey, fencing and curling are sports we have researched, but without an active local organization, the ability to administrate a quality national event becomes difficult.

So we go with our strengths. We have a solid history with wrestling, softball and basketball. We find our reputation in hosting these events well gives us an edge in the competitive world of sports travel bidding. We work to broaden our relationships every day, but building strong relationships takes time.

Our current offerings are with the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) for the 2014 season. We have several girl fastpitch bids submitted. We have experienced the benefit to our local community in terms of economic impact and return on investment over the years. Our ASA Girls Northern National this past August brought in 80 teams and generated over 2,300 hotel rooms. Other cities also see this benefit so those national tournaments are in high demand.

In addition we have again submitted a bid to host a prestigious Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Girls National Tournament for 2015 or 2016. The strength in AAU participation is in the southeast part of the U.S., which makes it difficult for us to be awarded the championship. However, our reputation with AAU is strong as we have served as a championship host five times since 2004. These events usually bring 50 to 80 of the nation's top teams in for the week-long event.

And finally we, working in partnership with MN USA Wrestling, submitted two bids to USA Wrestling in hopes of landing the 2013 and 2014 Cadet National Duals or Junior National Duals. We hope Rochester will receive one of these events for the next two years. We previously hosted the Cadet National Duals in 2009 and 2010.

Now time will tell how we do in bidding for these national events. We have already been successful in being awarded the 2013 USA Hockey Junior National tournament and the 2014 Beep Baseball World Series in the past few months. If we can win these other bids it should ensure an excellent series of great national tournaments being held in Rochester for the upcoming years. So let's hope for the best, as the bids are in!


Amateur Update is a weekly column on amateur sports activities in southeastern Minnesota, provided by the Rochester Amateur Sports Commission.

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