Sporting Events in Greensboro Keep Enthusiasts Occupied Year-Round
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For the Greensboro sports fan‚ there is no offseason.
Spring and summer are spent at the ball diamond‚ the world’s best golfers arrive in fall and winters are the province of college basketball.
And the options continue to grow.
Baseball fans in Greensboro are eagerly awaiting the 2005 campaign‚ when the city’s minor league baseball team opens its new downtown ballpark. The team‚ a member of the Class A South Atlantic League‚ begins its first season at First Horizon Park.
The 10‚000-seat‚ bowl-shaped stadium offers all of the modern amenities‚ with skyboxes‚ ample concession areas‚ a 66-foot digital scoreboard and a gorgeous view of the city skyline. The privately funded stadium was built for $21 million.
To accompany the new park‚ the team also announced a name change. The Greensboro Bats are now the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
“If you like brick and you like green‚ it’s a beautiful stadium‚” says Megan Thomas‚ director of media relations for the Grasshoppers.
Unlike its baseball counterpart‚ the Greensboro Coliseum is closing in on its 50th birthday. But it’s hardly showing its age.
The coliseum continues to be a basketball hotbed‚ regularly hosting the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s and women’s tournaments.
On the links‚ the city is the site of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro‚ one of the oldest stops on the PGA Tour. That’s kept the best golfers in the world descending on Greensboro every fall since 1938.
“We’re one of only 35 cities that host a PGA event‚” says Mark Bush of the Greensboro Sports Commission.
But Bush and the commission do much more than lure professional golfers to the city. The commission’s mission is to promote Greensboro as a location for all types of sporting activities.
For example‚ the commission has worked to expand the city’s athletic calendar with events such as USA Track & Field’s 8-kilometer Resolution Run in January 2005.
And much of the current work is on attracting tournaments for younger athletes‚ such as AAU basketball‚ youth soccer and baseball tournaments.
“Those are the types of things we’re trying to go after‚” says Bush‚ noting that these events carry tremendous economic impact for the community.
Of course‚ a key component in luring sports events is having adequate facilities. And the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department has done its part.
The department recently dedicated two new facilities: The Simkins Indoor Sports Pavilion houses eight indoor tennis courts and four combination basketball/volleyball courts‚ and the Carolyn S. Allen Community Park is the site of four new baseball/softball diamonds.
In fact‚ the ball diamonds at Allen Park – opened in October 2004 – have already begun filling fast with tournament play.
Story by Dan Markham
Photo by Antony Boshier
