Cooler heads prevail: Sacramento gets loan for WMA 2011 worlds
Today’s Sacramento Bee carries the resolution to the funding-2011-worlds issue. We’re safe. “The Sacramento City Council will provide $400,000 in loans from the city parking fund to help finance preparations for the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sacramento next year,” says the Bee. “Unanimous council support during Tuesday night’s meeting means organizers of the premier international track and field event set for July 6-17, 2011, are assured that most of the needed funds for startup will be available.” Now we go back to worrying about the heat!
Here’s the full story from SacBee:
Sacramento loan to finance international track meet preparations
lkalb@sacbee.com
Published Wednesday, Mar. 17, 2010The Sacramento City Council will provide $400,000 in loans from the city parking fund to help finance preparations for the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sacramento next year.
Unanimous council support during Tuesday night’s meeting means organizers of the premier international track and field event set for July 6-17, 2011, are assured that most of the needed funds for startup will be available.
The high-profile championships will draw thousands of athletes age 35 and over11 from more than 81 nations. Officials say the championships could pump $24 million into the local economy.
This spring, Sacramento Sports Commission officials, on behalf of the group’s nonprofit arm, will seek another $150,000 bridge loan from the Sacramento County general fund.
Getting money from the county’s general fund could be a challenge. The fund is facing an estimated deficit of $118 million for the fiscal year starting July 1.
Rob Leonard, Sacramento County economic development director, said earlier this week that the county will look carefully at expected timing and repayment of any loan before it goes before Sacramento County supervisors.
The funds anticipated from track and field entry fees alone should more than cover event planning and preparation costs, commission Executive Director John McCasey said Monday.
But those entry fees won’t land in organizers’ hands until mid-May 2011, well after preparations must begin.
8 Responses
Time to start worrying about the WMA meet to be hold in Brazil! Do they have real venues or are they made out of sand on their lovely beaches? Will USA citizens be able to get visas in time to make the meet or will the Brazilian Embassy issue them the day after US competitors need to leave for the meet.
Will we be able to understand a word anyone says there – Brazilian Portuguese is NOT the same as Spanish -or the Portuguese spoken in Portugal.
Will we be able to tear ourselves away from the beautiful beaches and go to the track to compete – will we just say – to heck with it – I have to work on my tan? And what is that strange looking thing in the bottom of that pot of beef something? They eat all parts of animals in Brazil. (yes I have been to Brazil – lovely country, wonderful people, great food, very strong coffee – can hardly wait to go again)
So many things to worry about now that the so-called near financial collapse of the Sac WMA meet has passed.
Mary,
Or you could save yourself from any worry, and come to the World Masters Games in Turin, Italy in 2013. Haven’t you got WMG titles you’ll need to defend? It’s my bet that most Europeans won’t be very tempted by Porto Allegre, even if the facilities in Brazil do turn out to be more than wishful thinking, if Italy’s going to put on a good show.
Tom
$400,000 in loans for a possible return of $24 million into the local economy.
sounds like a no brainer to me!!!
Now that there is nothing to worry about with Sacramento, what about the 2010 North and Central American and Caribbean Masters Championships?
According to Brian Keaveney, President of the NCCWMA, no bids have been received for the 2010 meet.
I live in Chico, which has a climate similar to Sacramento (90 miles north). The meet is doable if they hold most of the events in the morning or evening. Holding the field events in the middle of the day could be deadly, particularly for the officials. Temperatures of 110° (43°C) are not unusual for that time of year. However, it is a dry heat.
The Brailian meet could be a problem. While Brazil is one of my favorite countries, there have been visa problems for Americans for several years. Also, the airfare is expensive from Europe and the USA. I think most Europeans will go to the World Masters Games in Italy. I plan to go to both meets if I can stay healthy.
Tom I don’t think you will be able to do both that year. I think the dates overlap for the first time that I know of. Also most don’t realize that July, August is Brazils winter. So the temperatures will be cooler than most would like for a track meet.
Thanks to Professor Fahey for reminding us of something we could so easily forget. One of the big stories at Charlotte (2006) was the terrible punishment the officials absorbed from the heat and humidity. It’s one thing to do your own event and then search for relief wherever you can find it; it’s another thing to work the discus or long jump for many hours in the heat.
Just checked weather.com: Predicted high for Sacramento today (March 18) is 77 degrees; for Chico (California), where Tom lives, also 77. By July, the time of our nationals, these temperatures will have had time to really kick up. I don’t remember the exact wording, but preliminary information from Sacramento is that the longer races will not be during the high heat. But, again, let us not forget those officials.
I’ve lived in the Sacto area for 22 years. Although it’s common for the mercury to hover around the century mark, temps of 110 degrees are very unusual for the time of year that the national meet is scheduled. The all-time record for Sacto is 115 on July 25, 2006. That was during an intense heat wave that began to make its way eastward across the country. By the first week of August it had settled on the east coast, causing the terrible heat and humidity storm that we experienced during the 2006 national meet in Charlotte. Luckily we will be dry, not humid. The Delta Breeze should cool things off nicely when the sun sets.
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