Junior Olympics vs. masters nationals: Who will have juice in Jax?
Masters will warm up track for munchkins in July.
Here are JO results from 2014.
Here’s the rest of the story for posterity:
By Max Marbut, Staff Writer
Combined, the two events are projected to bring enough athletes, family members, coaches, trainers, officials and staff to result in more than 17,000 room nights in hotels and motels in the county.
Angela Harris, vice president of USA Track & Field Florida Youth, said the Masters Championship, for competitors ages 30-99, has never been in Jacksonville.
The Junior Olympic competition is for athletes from ages 7-19. The 2015 edition will mark the first time the event has been held in Jacksonville and the first time in Florida since 2003, when Miami was the host site.
Harris said the junior competition is expected to attract as many as 8,000 athletes, plus family members.
Based on the reaction to the track facilities and to Jacksonville, the juniors could return to Jacksonville “every two or three years,” said Harris.
The council also approved a $15,000 grant for the April 16-19 25th anniversary of Springing the Blues at Jacksonville Beach.
Festival founder and Executive Director Sam Veal asked for $20,000, but the board decided that after funding the event at that level for the past several years, it’s time to encourage Veal to secure more sponsors.
“You’re an institution. You should be able to get sponsors,” council member Fred Pozin told Veal.
Veal said the City of Jacksonville Beach supports the event with a cash contribution of $8,000 and with an additional $18,000 of in-kind contributions, such as waiving permit fees and providing public safety services.
Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham accompanied Veal for the presentation to the council. He said the festival will bring 200,000 people to the Beaches and the hotels are sold out weeks in advance.
“We have 1,262 businesses that depend on events like this,” he said.
Other grants approved by the council:
• $10,000 to the Jacksonville Junior Volleyball Association for its 2015 tournament series, four events in January-April.
• $10,000 to the National team Roping League for the Jan. 29-Feb. 1 NTRL Finals and the May 1-3 NTRL Florida Truck Roping. League representative Monica Pritchard explained that the cowboys compete to win trucks as prizes.
• Three grants, a total of $14,000, to offset the cost of fireworks for the Nov. 28 Holiday on the River Tree Lighting, the Nov. 29 Community First Light Boat Parade and the Jacksonville Beaches July 4 celebration.
16 Responses
Well, Ken, the $125,000 windfall is certainly good news. I see that the two events are projected to result in more than 17,000 room nights in the county, but that might be generous.
Can the masters T&F community hold up its own end of the deal? I would be interested in what others have to say, as I see three big barriers, in this order: (1) The 2015 Senior Games in Minnesota, (2) the 2015 Worlds in France, and (3) the reputation and history of masters nationals in Florida.
Nationals were held in Orlando in 1999, and the attendance was poor (an estimated 900) and the experience unsatisfying for many participants. For 2009 the nationals were scheduled for Clermont, Florida, but that meet never got off the ground. Eventually we went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and had a good meet.
Personally, after my disappointing performance in Winston-Salem this past summer I am hoping to be chosen for the Jacksonville meet. I had planned to drop out of masters nationals, but I would hate to go out on a sour note.
Does anyone plan to go to Jacksonville this summer?
The University of North Florida facility is a world class venue. It features a 9 lane IAAF rated track, an adjacent 400m warm up track, and superb horizontal jump and throws areas. The chances to compete on a track of this quality are indeed rare. The LOC has vast experience holding large, well run meets including the much larger youth championships. All indoor areas are air conditioned with the promise of many tents/canopies and misting tents. The parking lot is across the street from the track. Did I mention the reasonably priced hotels? Athletes who skip this meet will help ensure future meets are held in lesser quality venues.
Mike Travers
Given that the JOs draw around 5000-6000 entries plus parents and coaches and last for a week, 17,000 room nights doesn’t sound that far-fetched. Given that they will be bringing several times the number of people to the area for a longer time than we will, a 50-50 split would be far from equitable.
I agree with you, Jerry. I was going to try something clever but ended up with bland and somewhat misleading prose. I was thinking of a line something like the following:
Between the two of us, Tiger Woods and I have won the U.S. Open three times.
The way this piece is written suggests that the Junior Olympics and the Masters Nationals are on equal footing, and it gave me a chuckle.
I do think that a lot of people will come up with a rationale for missing this meet. Still, if you need a nice meet to tune up for Worlds you can enter this one. And if you’re not going to France, try Jacksonville.
Here’s the story that Ken is selflessly preserving for all mankind:
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544354
I hope this piggy-backing idea takes off. Don’t know how the refs feel about going for eleven straight days, but it’s a great way to get all the organizational bugs out for putting on a smooth Jr Olympics.
In response to Peter’s question, yes, now that my husband is recovering from his hip replacement surgery we plan to fly to Florida.
Pete–I’m not sure what “disappointing performance” at Winston-Salem you are referring to, but I know I’m not the only one who hopes you never drop out of the masters nationals. Part of my T&F experience each year is listening to various meet officials and announcers come up with new ways to stumble over the pronunciation of my name. But I know that if I can get to the nationals, even though I’m usually an also-ran, the whole stadium will hear my name announced by someone who cares enough to get it right. Thank you for that, Pete.
I totally agree with what Ed B. just posted!
I expect that a substantial majority of masters T&F athletes in the US will NOT go to Lyon. Those who do go can still enter Jacksonville. Let me check the dates ….
OK, Jacksonville ends on the 26th of July, and then you can maintain your training on the 27th of that month through the 2nd of August. Travel on the 3rd and watch the opening ceremonies in Lyon on the 4th.
I am very glad to see affirmation by Mike Travers (post 2) of what I have heard about the Jacksonville site. This is a first-class venue … I’m already getting excited about the prospect of driving down from Fairfax, Virginia, in July for this championship meet (should I be selected).
Ed Baskauskas, you’re a big star in my book, and I treat you accordingly. I ran collegiately for Haverford College, competed twice in the Penn Relays, but was never more than 1% of what you have been as a T&F athlete.
Christa, I look forward to seeing you and your husband in Jacksonville. What a meet it will be.
Sounds like a great facility and a great location for affordable lodging. I just hope my body holds up well enough to compete. I’d love to be there.
It may be tough economically for some masters athletes to go to both the Outdoors and Lyon but I plan to do both as are a couple of others (and yes, I agree with the comments about Peter’s performances at our meets!). Not sure if Irene O will do so though, as she plans to get to France a few days before Lyon begins to acclimate to the time change from the west coast. And besides, given a choice of spending four days in Jacksonville or Paris, I’d say it’s no contest! Btw Lyon is such a great city, I would be surprised if a lot of American athletes don’t want to go there for the Worlds.
If you are planning on Lyon here is the USATF Masters Team Hotel:
http://www.lyon2015.com/hebergements/?langue=en&onglet=1&acces=&IdHotel=2035
Gary Snyder
Chair
USATF Masters T&F
I enter a new age group in June so I have loaded up my dance card with a bunch of track meets. National Senior Games, National Masters Outdoor Meet in Florida, and WMA in Lyon, France. Hopefully I can regain a bit of speed by summer after a nearly 2 year lay off from decent training. But if not -oh well-that is life as one ages. A few fortunate ones do not seem to slow down much – but I am increasingly convinced that I am constantly running uphill and into a stiff wind.
ah yes…the only group of athletes that can’t wait to get older and enter a “new” age bracket….cockeyed optimism at it’s best..i’ve been doing it since i approached 30 back in 1984 🙂
Great to hear Peter is thinking about JAX! We will be there, Pete!
Thanks, Terry. I hope to see you and your husband in Winston-Salem on February 8 (Southeastern Indoor Masters) and again on March 20-22 (Indoor Masters Nationals).
If I do a good job in both meets I would like you to e-mail the Jacksonville meet director and ask her to consider me for nationals.
This site, as noted, looks very nice indeed, and I believe the throwers can set records here (Berea 2011 and Olathe 2013 were both substandard for the throws). The runners and jumpers should also do well at this great facility in Jacksonville.
PT
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