la Frontera In the News

Round Rock Leader

February 24, 2004

Round Rock awarded the Games of Texas

by Jennifer Marciniak, Leader Staff

True to its newly touted title as "Sports Capital of Texas," Round Rock has been chosen as the 2006 and 2007 site of the Games of Texas.

Proposed to bring in between $7 million and $10 million in sales revenue, the Games are the state finals for youth and adult league teams and individual sports registered through the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation.

City parks officials have worked constantly with TAAF during the past year to secure a bid for two years of the Games. Sharon Prete, City Parks and Recreation director, said although Round Rock was the only city to apply for the Games for those two years, the announcement was all that was needed to transform fantasy into reality.

"It will have such an economic impact," she said. "It gives us the ability to have the city benefit from hotel stays, people eating in our restaurants. The entire city will be impacted."

At least 50,000 people are expected to attend the event in 2006, said Terri Waggoner, marketing specialist for the city of Round Rock, when considering the same amount of people attended the Games in 2003, which were held in Northeast Tarrant County.

With more than 10,000 athletes participating in 16 core sports and 40,000 spectators and coaches, the 2003 Games brought in nearly $10 million in sales revenue for the Fort Worth region. This year's Games will be in northeast Tarrant County as well, with the 2005 Games centered in Waco.

"I think because we are so centralized and with the number of people from all over who will be participating, we'll be just as big if not larger," said Waggoner. "We are anticipating really big sales dollars, and I think we are set up to do so."

And not just for Round Rock. Prete is expecting hotels from Georgetown to Austin and from Cedar Park to Pflugerville will have heads in all their beds during the games. Restaurants are also anticipated to see quite a flare in business.

Depending on the sport, most athletes interested in participating the Games of Texas need to be affiliated with TAAF, as well as work their way up through regional qualifying rounds, said Mike Hemker, city athletics and aquatics manager. TAAF sports include softball, baseball and basketball, while non-TAAF eligible sports include kickball and racquetball.

Some sports Round Rock is considering adding to the 2006 games are soccer, a 5K run, cricket, disc golf, fencing, horseshoes, judo, kickball, 3-on-3 basketball and youth baseball.

Prete said sports for those with disabilities are still being considered, as well as gold for seniors. Athletes are expected to come from as far away as Amarillo, El Paso, Lufkin, Orange and The Rio Grande Valley.

In early March, city parks officials will sit down with parks representatives from neighboring cities to determine who will house which events. Committees will be assigned responsibilities and some affiliates will attend the games in Northeast Tarrant County to do some hands on research. A grand opening ceremony – complete with former Olympic athletes – is being planned at Dell Diamond, which has already been nailed down as a venue.

"In Tarrant County the ceremonies featured athletes from as far back as the 1932 Olympic," said Hemker. "We want to get a hold of the same folks, do it in the same manner, with the ceremonial torch coming into the stadium."

The Southwest Williamson county cities and communities that will have a role in the games include Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District and Fern Bluff Municipal Utility District.

With a long way to go, Prete is optimistic things will fall into place.

"We'll take it on as a challenge," said Prete. "We have the capabilities, especially when we are partnered with such great cities."

The 2006 Games of Texas are scheduled for July 27-30, the 2007 games July 26-29.