la Frontera In the News

Austin American Statesman

January 15, 2004

Round Rock, Williamson County close to securing 2006, 2007 Games of Texas.

ROUND ROCK -- Unless something unforeseen happens, Williamson County will host the state's largest amateur sports festival, the Games of Texas, in 2006 and 2007.

The Texas Amateur Athletic Federation's executive board unanimously voted to accept a joint $25,000 bid from seven local parks and recreation departments -- Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Williamson County and the Brushy Creek and Fern Bluff municipal utility districts -- to conduct the Olympic-style event.

The final step is for the federation's members, the more than 140 municipal parks and recreation departments statewide, to approve the bid.

That decision, expected in about a month, is a mere formality, said Mark Lord, assistant executive director of the Georgetown-based federation.

"Everything looks great," he said after the board's vote last week. The 2004 and '05 festivals are headed to Northeast Tarrant County and Waco, respectively, but it's not too late for other parks and recreation departments to bid for the 2006 and '07 Games.

However, those requests will be reviewed only if the federation's members reject Williamson County's proposal, Lord said.

By all indications, that's not going to happen. Round Rock's parks department, leading Williamson's charge to secure the Games, has "lots of clout with the organization," Lord said.

So let the drooling begin: The 2003 Games attracted 10,000 youth and adult athletes who generated $10 million in economic activity across Northeast Tarrant County, officials said.

And let the work begin: "It's like putting on a miniature Olympics," said Jim Browne, executive chairman for the 2004 Northeast Tarrant County Games committee. "You can't start planning too early."

Browne is parks and recreation director for North Richland Hills, one of six cities again hosting the Tarrant County Games this summer. The Northeast Tarrant County Games committee helped Williamson's largest parks department finalize the bid that includes proposed venues and total number of hotel rooms: about 2,500 in southern Williamson County, including 2,000 in Round Rock.

"This is our business; this is what we do every day," said Sharon Prete, Round Rock's parks and recreation director. "The only difference is the magnitude."

Magnitude, indeed: The Games will bring an estimated $7 million to $10 million to southern Williamson County, statewide exposure and credibility for Round Rock's new $1.8 million tourism plan touting it as the sports capital of Texas.

Perhaps just as important, Williamson County gets a chance to show Texas it can pull off a huge event without the help of facility-rich Austin.

The county considered asking for Austin's help as bid discussions developed, Prete said.

But Williamson's planning group decided that the county's facilities could accommodate the festival's eight required events: the opening ceremony, boxing, bowling, golf, softball, swimming, tennis and track and field.

Some venues are obvious: Dell Diamond, which can seat more than 10,000 people, is a natural for the opening ceremony that drew 9,000 spectators to Bedford's Pennington Field in July for the 2003 Games.

But track and swimming -- which attracted about 2,800 and 2,000 athletes, respectively, to the most recent Games -- are much tougher venues to provide.

Williamson County has two eight-lane, 25-meter pools that could serve as swim venues: the Elizabeth Milburn pool in Cedar Park and Mickie Krabsbach pool in Round Rock.

For track venues, organizers are considering using Leander's Bible Memorial Stadium and Round Rock's Dragon Stadium, which can seat 12,000 and 9,000 spectators, respectively. The Round Rock school district's new $20.5 million football stadium does not have a track.

The Games might have wound up elsewhere if not for Round Rock, a 25-year federation member planning to pay a large share of the minimum $25,000 two-year bid required by the federation.

"We will pay more than the other cities, based on the fact we have more facilities to host various events," Prete said.

"Round Rock is very capable of handling it by themselves, but to get the premier venue sites, they're going to involve all of Williamson County, and that is a very smart move," Lord said.

"There's no doubt in my mind that this whole thing can fly."

Games of Texas as big as Texas

Williamson County is bidding to be host of the 2006 and 2007 Games of Texas:

• What: Sports festival created in 1986 for Texas amateur athletes. The annual Texas Amateur Athletic Federation event is patterned after the Olympic Games and U.S. Olympic Sports Festivals.
  
  
• Previous hosts: San Antonio, 1986; Fort Worth, 1987; Bryan/College Station/Texas A&M University, 1988; Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Region 1 (Gulf Coast), 1989; Carrollton/Farmers Branch, 1990; Dallas, 1991; Corpus Christi, 1992; El Paso, 1993; Bryan/College Station/Texas A&M University, 1994; Waco, 1995-96; Lubbock, 1997-98; Waco, 1999; Bryan/College Station/Texas A&M University, 2000; Midland/Odessa, 2001; Waco, 2002; Northeast Tarrant County, 2003.
  
  
• Upcoming Games: The Northeast Tarrant County cities of Bedford, Colleyville, Euless, Grapevine, Hurst and North Richland Hills will be co-hosts of the 2004 event July 22-25. Waco will have the 2005 Games.
  
  
• Required events: Opening ceremony, boxing, bowling, golf, softball, swimming, tennis and track and field.
  
  
• Williamson's other proposed events: Three-on-three basketball, baseball, five-kilometer run, cricket, disc golf, fencing, horseshoes, judo, kickball, racquetball, triathlon, soccer, washers and Wiffleball.
  
  
• Williamson County's proposed dates: July 27-30, 2006; July 26-29, 2007.
  
  
• Required bids: $15,000 one-year bid, $25,000 two-year bid.
  
  
• More information: Go to www.gamesoftexas.com.