Home Depot Center meet to exploit masters again?
The Home Depot Center in Carson, California (near L.A.), once was touted as a place for all levels to host track meets. I got overly excited when I first heard about it in May 2003. Since then, the Home Depot folks have shown their true colors: green and more green. Last year, for example, the HDC booted masters planning to hold the USATF Western Regional Masters Championships — in favor of a pro lacrosse game. Now the Home Depot has unveiled plans for a relays-only meet open to all levels — kids to geezers on March 30-31. But I suspect it’s merely a money-making ploy.
Of course, the track is superfast Mondo Super-X — so if any masters relay teams want a great place to set a record, here you go. Just prepare to pay big to compete and have friends witness your performance.
Entry fees are listed here — $25 per team per event. That’s reasonable on a per athlete basis. But having to pay for spectators is a bite.
Here’s all I know:
This came in today’s email:
Just Relays!
…The first meet on the West Coast dedicated to relays, relays and more relays
It’s the first time that youth, high school, collegiate and open division and Masters groups have been able to run in a major meet on the fabulous Mondo Super-X track at The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
Friday and Saturday, March 30-31, 2007
Heats on Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Finals on Saturday from 1 p.m. to. 4 p.m.
Divisions:
Youth: Sub-Bantam, Bantam, Midget, Youth and Intermediate Divisions
High school
Collegiate
Open
Masters
Events:
Distance Medley (High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
4 x 100 m (Youth, High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
4 x 800 m (Youth, High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
Sprint Medley (High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
4 x 1500/1600 m (Youth, High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
4 x 400 m (Youth, High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
4 x 1500/1600 m (Youth, High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
4 x 400 m (Youth, High School, Collegiate/Open, Masters)
High School Girls and Boys High Jump (
High School Girls and Boys Pole Vault
High School Girls and Boys Shot Put
Easy-to-use online registration at DirectAthletics.com beginning Monday, February 5, 2007.
Information available at JustRelays.com
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster and at The Home Depot Center box office
Media Contact: Jan Fambro (310) 826-2962
Me again:
Anyone have a clue why this meet hasn’t been on the radar until now? It’s not listed in the USATF meet database.
K E N
P.S. Meet site shares this info on the meet organizers:
Just Relays is being staged by Perelman, Pioneer & Company, an event-management agency headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm has 20 years of event management experience, including major multi-sport programs such as the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, 1988 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games, 1987 Pan American Games, 1990 Goodwill Games, 1993 World University Games and many more. Perelman, Pioneer has also handled major national events such as the 1986 Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty, 1992 National Columbus Quincentennial, 2000 Reform Party National Convention and dozens of others.
For more information about Perelman, Pioneer & Co., please visit us at http://www.Perelman-PIoneer.com
President Rich Perelman will serve as the Just Relays meet director. He has a career of more than 30 years in staging track & field competitions, starting at University High School in Los Angeles. He has been meet manager or meet director for three Pacific-10 Conference Track & Field Championships (1977, 1988, 1996), meet director for UCLA Track & Field from 2000-2003 and meet director of The Home Depot Invitational in 2003 and 2004, the adidas Track Classic in 2005 and the USA Track & Field National Senior and Junior Championships in 2005.
He is a member of the international Association of Track & Field Statisticians (ATFS) and a charter member of the Federation of American Statisticians of Track. (FAST).
Pat Harris is the director of sales of Just Relays. She has been an integral part of dozens of major events in Southern California, including The Home Depot Track & Field Invitational in 2003 and 2004, the adidas Track Classic in 2005 and the USA Track & Field Junior and Senior National Outdoor Championships in 2005.
3 Responses
Ken, it is true that the Home Depot Center did not treat us fairly last year ( they also dumped a Youth Championship by the way so it wasn’t just Masters)They did not dump our meet date for a Lacrosse game specifically–they bought a professional La Crosse team and needed dates for Home Games so they took priority over us–that’s fine–but the damage came when they did not comunicate that fact. We did not find out until I contacted them 8 weeks before wanting to meet with them to finalize the paperwork.Rich Perelmen is the meet Director for “Just Relays” and has put this meet together. As far as I know he is not employed by the Home Depot or AEG the Sports conglamurate. Let’s not shoot the messenger here–I see this as an opportunity for Masters. Further more we should be trying to encourage Masters Teams from all over to support the meet–because if it isn’t well attended –it will be gone after one year. This is an opportunity for teams that want to set records to run on a very fast surface.Many relay records for age groups are soft because we get very few (if any) opportunity to run them over the season–as I recall the entry fee for teams is very reasonable–certainly less than a roadrace.Let’s not cut off our nose to spite our face here. The meet Director got a Date for this meet and just because of the venue people should not stay away.Just don’t shop at Home Depot anymore if you want to directly affect them without hurting the Track & Field Community at large.
Ken, I would guess that final arrangements were not completed until after the first of the year. I was contacted only two weeks ago on this–so I believe that’s why it hasn’t been on the rader screen. These arrangements include contacting several entities and the process moves slowly it is not an easy process.They would want as much advance notice to athletes as possible obviously, so I’m sure they got the word out as soon as they could.
To clarify the points made by Mark … Rich Perelman is NOT affiliated with The Home Depot Center in any manner other than having been the meet director for several great meets run there. He had to negotiate a contract just like everyone else holding an event on that property. The reason the word is just now getting out, as Mark pointed out, these things take time … PARTICULARLY a first-time event. Rich, as he always does, wanted to ensure that everything was in order. As anyone knows who has participated in a Rich Perelman event, March 30 and March 31 will be extremely well run and well organized, and everyone will have a great time. As for spectators having to pay, yes there’s a ticket price, but it’s nominal, particularly for a public sporting facility like The Home Depot Center. I agree wholeheartedly with Mark, we should encourage everyone to come out and run, or this event may not happen again … what a shame that would be.
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