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ATLANTA “SET” TO HOST NATIONAL
VOLLEYBALL EVENT
By Tampa Volleyball Events Staff
The City of Atlanta and the Georgia World Congress Center will play host to over 7,000 volleyball players from March 25-27 with the arrival of the 2005 ASICS Big South Qualifier, the second largest girls’ volleyball event in North America, held on a single weekend in one location.
Officials from the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau announced the event’s arrival in early March, capping an 18-month campaign to win the bid over as many as five major cities, including Orlando and Tampa, Fla. where the event had been held the past 15 years.
Preparations are underway to transform Hall B of the Georgia World Congress Center into a state-of-the-art volleyball facility in a cooperative effort between Tampa Volleyball Events, the host organization, and as many as three court suppliers. Construction on 85 portable volleyball courts, the majority of which were provided by Sports Flooring Leasing of Minneapolis, Minn. began on Tuesday, March 22 with more than 200 volunteers from the Atlanta-area. As many as 500 people will be used throughout the 48-hour installation to produce a high quality volleyball venue for Junior Olympic volleyball competition. When the 2003 USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championships were held in the same facility, half as many courts were used.
“We are eager to get the community involved in this process, as this event will serve to boost not only local tourism, but the ability for local volleyball clubs in the State of Georgia to participate in a national volleyball qualifier with the hopes of attending the Junior Olympics,” said Lauri Dagostino, Executive Director of Tampa Volleyball Events, a Florida-based events company that operates the ASICS Big South Qualifier.
Tampa Volleyball Events has scheduled a full agenda of special events and activities designed to cater to the family aspect of the ASICS Big South Qualifier and in an effort to open the doors to club teams from the southeast region of the United States. Events planned for this week include: Thursday, March 24: USA Volleyball Youth and Junior National Team High Performance Tryout (4-9 p.m.; Hall B2 of the GWCC); Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26: TranSports Athletics International Team Travel Seminar (Hall B, Room B211 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.); PrepRecruit.com Parent’s Seminar on the College Recruiting Process (Hall B, Room B211 from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.); Sunday, March 26: Easter Services (Hall B, Room B309 from 7:00-8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)"Our event attracts the entire family, who may travel to the City of Atlanta for volleyball, sightseeing, and to spend the Easter holiday together. It is critical to us that we offer a wide range of family-oriented options for them to enjoy," said Dagostino, whose own family is a key part of the event's success. Husband, Randy, one of the most successful junior and high school level volleyball coaches in the nation, will not only be coaching his Tampa Bay Juniors team, but also manages installation of all 85 volleyball courts. Even the Dagostino children play a role, as players in the Tampa Bay Juniors club, and active contributors to the installation and dismantle of the event from start to finish.
The ASICS Big South Qualifier will offer some unique advantages to over 15,000 spectators that few other events offer. UniversityAthlete.com, a leading online collegiate recruiting service, will debut an exclusive text messaging system that will allow event participants, parents, coaches and spectators to maintain a live link to the action in the Georgia World Congress Center. The text messaging will complement University Athlete's handheld scheduling system for coaches and parents. Real-time results are provided online, in a collaborative effort between University Athlete and Midwest Volleyball that will post live results online as they occur. Hotels in the downtown area that offer high speed internet access are gearing up for the arrival of teams who will be eager to check results during their stay. In fact, over 12,500 hotel room nights have already been sold out for months in preparation for the event. Hotel partners of the event have demonstrated an unprecedented level of support and cooperation, including providing express check-in for volleyball guests, extended room service hours, complimentary high speed internet access, and special meals and social events for visiting volleyball participants.
The technology involved in the ASICS Big South Qualifier is a feat in itself. For the first time, the entire event will be completely paperless. Instead of a program, spectators can download relevant information on their personal handheld device, smart phone or personal digital assistant (PDA). Online registration for teams is through SignUpToPlay.com (a leading web-enabled participant database system), registration of over 200 college recruiters on site and handheld tournament schedules are provided by UniversityAthlete.com. The "Net Gazette" online event newsletter was distributed year-round to more than 10,000 subscribers. Hotel reservations for over 12,500 hotel room nights is through THS housing service that features a fully automated, web-enabled, secure reservations process. Arrival and departure screens at the entrance of the event will provide an updated schedule and results for each of close to 600 teams visiting from 29 states as far West as Hawaii in addition to a number of teams from Puerto Rico. In fact, the entire event is run on a specially designed software program that has reduced the need for thousands of reams of paper to keep track of the more than 3,000 volleyball matches that wil take place from March 25-27. The technology is arguably second only to that provided by Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
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