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By Dana Yost
Marshall Independent, Thursday, January 17, 2008
Until this week, there were only six official
regional amateur sports centers around Minnesota. Now you can make it seven.
Marshall was formally designated as a regional sports center this week by the
Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, a decision that caps several years of
work by community leaders to secure the designation. It also puts Marshall in
a position to host several more amateur sports events each year, and
capitalize on the promotional capacity of a Legislature-created state
commission.
“We feel very proud they have chosen Marshall as a site,” said Dr. Jane
Willett, the chairwoman of Marshall’s amateur sports steering committee.
Roger Madison, president of Bremer Bank, is the vice-chairman of the committee
and said he believes the decision should be an economic boost for Marshall.
“I truly believe this is a growth industry,” Madison said. “With kids and
sports and adult sports, there’s more and more of it.
“Kids are getting into this at a younger age, and there’s more money involved.
Parents are willing to go (long distances) for events. It has become what
families do now, and I think it’s a growth industry.”
MASC, which was created in 1987, formally acted Monday on Marshall’s request
to become a sports center. MASC cited five factors in Marshall’s favor.
1) A commitment from the leadership in Marshall to enhance facilities and
create a regional amateur sports commission.
2) An existing concentration of quality amateur sports facilities at Southwest
Minnesota State University, city facilities, YMCA and other sites.
3) A history of hosting successful amateur sports events.
4) A market assessment survey by the University of Minnesota tourism center
that showed “strong interest” among area amateur sports groups in
participating in Marshall events.
5) Strong support from the Marshall business community, especially from the
Schwan Food Co.
“We have been totally impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment expressed by
Marshall community leaders,” said MASC Vice-Chairman Chub Stewart.
Marshall is seeking some state bonding funds to begin designing a new hockey
center and soccer fields, but state and local officials made it clear that the
community’s existing facilities are already enough to make Marshall a sports
center.
Those facilities include the R/A Facility at SMSU, the under-construction
bubble-topped events center at SMSU, new high school gyms, Legion Field,
several soccer fields and the YMCA.
One critical aspect cited in the past by state officials was the willingness
of community organizations to share those facilities at event time.
Last year, for instance, Marshall was host to 70 amateur sports events
involving 13,000 athletes, MASC said.
“(Sharing facilities) is extremely important,” Willett said. “Right now, we
have quality facilities at SMSU, the high school, the city, the YMCA, and
we’re going to continue to use those sites. We’re not trying to re-invent the
wheel.
“We’ll need to work together with all these groups to make this happen, and
we’ve already had terrific support from SMSU, the school,. the city, the YMCA,
and our business partners. That leads us to believe (future) cooperation will
happen.
“Wherever the amateur sports commission has designated a site, it HAS
happened.”
There has been strong economic growth around regional amateur sports centers
in cities such as Blaine (multi-million-dollar development) and Rochester (a
booming hotel industry).
Rochester embraced amateur sports as the number of long-term patient stays at
the Mayo Clinic began to decline because of medical improvements in recent
years. A Rochester official said last month that amateur sports keeps hotels
filled on the weekends, and another 5,200 hotel rooms are being planned.
“In Rochester, it has turned the hotel industry into a 24/7 thing,” Madison
said. “So I think it’s a good opportunity for our lodging and restaurant
industries to be busy all the time.
“I really see good things coming out of this.”
Madison was a co-chairman of the campaign to get voters to support a Marshall
School District operating levy last fall. The campaign passed, and, he said,
it showed what can happen when the community rallies behind large projects.
“Everyone felt good about that,” he said, hoping for the same support of
amateur sports.
“It can create a sense of pride and a sense of community and make things go
further.”
Both Willett and Madison said the designation itself is another amenity for
Marshall, allowing the community to draw athletes and fans from bordering
states, and allowing Marshall’s own athletes to sometimes compete in major
events right at home.
“We work pretty hard on recruiting and bringing people to the community, and
this is one more piece of the puzzle,” Madison said.
“We’ve got great facilities, and there will be a lot of things going on — it’s
going to be an active place.”
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