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The
Countdown To The USA Masters Games Begins CSM Announces Dates For 2003 Event |
Capitol
Sports Management's (CSM) feasibility study showed that a USA
Masters Games event can be done and would have a positive impact on
the Triangle. In celebration of these results, the Capitol Broadcasting
Company subsidiary announced on Wednesday, June 6, that the first USA
Masters Games will open two years from that date.
 Hill Carrow, CSM President, says there is "alot of promise" for USA Masters Games. |
 Olympic gold medalist David Fox looks at the Games as a goal toward which to work. |
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| The press conference took place in the heat of the day at the front gate of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. A bevy of sports officials, enthusiasts, community leaders and members of the press joined athletes and coaches to hear the good news. Instead of the Triangle spending its energy trying to get outsiders to bring their events here, such as the nearly successful bid to host the Pan American Games, CSM is leading the effort to create an event of the Triangle's own. |  CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon wanted to create the Games because he is "excited about what these types of events can do for a regional effort." |
 Track & field official Bernard Austin told the crowd that athletic events "bridge all age groups & socio-economic levels." |
 Athletes, sports coordinators, community leaders and a variety of others came to hear the announcement that the USA Masters Games will open in the Triangle in 2003. |
The USA Masters Games will be "an opportunity to showcase our venues which are the best in the country…and to take the event and integrate arts and culture," said CSM Executive Vice President and General Manager for the 2003 Masters Games Winkie La Force.
CSM announced that the inaugural USA Masters Games will take place June 6 - 15, 2003. The coordinators then hope to stage the event every two years following.
CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon said, "We can do anything we want to do as a region," citing the successful end to the campaign to sell 12,000 Carolina Hurricanes season tickets. He said that he|
initially jumped at CSM President Hill Carrow's idea to create the event because of "the concept of major events encouraging regional cooperation." Masters or adult sports were organized nationwide in the 1970's as an outlet for athletes beyond Olympic competition. Australia and New Zealand have also created a national Masters event. CSM also plans to take advantage of this untapped area of the sports market. Currently in the US one-half million adult competitors are registered in the sports that will be part of the USA Masters Games. Athletes such as David Fox, gold medallist in swimming in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, said the USA Masters Games will provide "the opportunity to train for a goal." The USA Masters Games will include 15 sports for which competition coordinators and/or committee leaders have been appointed. |
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