Recently I attended the Sports Link conference in Colorado Springs, where I met with several United States sports governing bodies to discuss Rochester as a potential host city for their events.
At the conference I also had the opportunity to hear a couple Olympians speak about their experiences and how much their sport means to them.
A few United States Olympic Committee (USOC) executives also spoke and the one point they stressed to the attendees was the importance of leaving a legacy at the grassroots levels of youth sports.
While listening to the Olympians and USOC Executives, I realized how great the Rochester youth sports groups are. Many of the National Governing Bodies' (NGB) representatives I met with knew of Rochester and what our youth sports groups have to offer.
We have many great youth sports groups that help to start athletes into their sports and build them up. They train the athletes the proper way and prepare them for the future in their sport. They help to build that legacy of youth sports in Rochester.
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When talking with many of the NGB representatives, the first question they ask is, "How's your relationship with the local youth sports programs?"
Fortunately the sports commission has a great relationship with a lot of these youth sports groups. This relationship helps to create new events and grow existing tournaments in Rochester. The youth sports groups understand what the sports commission's mission and goals are and we all work together for the betterment of the sport and the events held here.
The sports commission works with youth sports groups in many different capacities. In some situations the youth sports groups help us get volunteers for events we oversee, while in other instances the youth sports group handles the majority of the administration with some support from us. With this great working relationship, Rochester is projected to host 65 events next year. Those events are projected to bring in more than 110,000 attendees.
The Rochester youth sports groups should take pride in their organizations. They are well-organized and offer services and leagues to many local young athletes as well as run great tournaments for teams from across the state and region.
Many other communities wish they had what we have here and strive to have youth sports groups like ours. Keep up the good work and it is a pleasure working with every one of the youth sports groups.
