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Committed to Serving the
Community
For 2006, I have started answering the
numerous questions we receive about how the Sports Foundation
serves its three missions – events, youth and
facilities. In the last issue, you read about how the
Sports Foundation is tackling childhood obesity issues.
Last week in San Antonio, the Sports
Foundation announced we are bringing another event to
the community to add to the impressive list of other
economic-generating events on the schedule. Read below
for details about the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship
for Men, which is the next international event the Sports
Foundation will stage. This adds to the $214 million
dollars of direct visitor spending calculated on events
secured by the Sports Foundation since 1991.
Because of the work done by the Sports
Foundation throughout the years, San Antonio’s
reputation as a major player in the highly competitive
world of amateur athletics has grown nationally and
internationally. Organizations like USA Basketball and
other National Governing Bodies, the United States Olympic
Committee, the NCAA and the State Games of Texas come
to expect outstanding expertise, excellent facilities
(we wish we had more), and extraordinary hospitality.
Much of the credit goes to you, the volunteers.
That’s why the Sports Foundation
needs you to create awareness, mobilize community leaders
and businesses, assist with ticket campaigns and other
fund raisers, and promote opportunities to get involved
with the Sports Foundation to your friends and associates.
The Sports Foundation believes that our
focus on bringing economically successful sporting events
to the community has made a difference in San Antonio;
it has helped with the growth and success we are experiencing
now. But we need your financial help as well. Please
consider becoming a Sports Foundation member
and help us bring more prestige to San Antonio.
Dr.
Susan Blackwood
Executive Director
FIBA Americas Championship
Slated for San Antonio
At a press conference on Wednesday March
1, the Sports Foundation and USA Basketball announced
they will join forces to host the 2006 FIBA
Americas U18 Championship for Men, June 28
through July 2, at Bill Greehey Arena on the campus
of St. Mary’s University. This is the first time
the international basketball tournament will be held
in the United States. It will feature the under-18 national
teams from Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Dominican
Republic, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and the United States.
Four of the teams will qualify to compete in the FIBA
U19 World Championship for Men in Malaysia.
 On
hand to make the announcement and unveil the event logo
were Dr. Susan Blackwood, Sports Foundation
executive director; Jim Tooley, executive
director, USA Basketball; George Becknell,
Sports Foundation chairman; Julio Subero,
FIBA Americas secretary; and Bill Greehey,
chairman of Valero Energy Corporation. Greehey has been
named the chairman of the event, which local organizers
also call the Tournament of the Americas.
“Mr. Greehey and Valero have been generous supporters
of our organization since its inception,” said
Blackwood. “We’re excited to have his guidance
as we work to deliver a spectacular tournament experience
for USA Basketball, FIBA and the talented young athletes
who are sure to emerge as top NBA recruits.”
“The work that the Sports Foundation has done
for many years laid the groundwork for San Antonio landing
this Tournament of the Americas basketball championship,
and it’s something that will position the city
to host future sporting events, which is great”
said Greehey.
Tickets are on sale for the Tournament of the Americas
through the Sports Foundation by phone at 210-820-2100
or online by clicking
here.
Six Inducted into Sports
Hall of Fame
 On
February 17, the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame opened
its doors to six deserving inductees, including: Bob
Bass, Sean Elliott, Cito
Gaston, Thomas Lott, Mary
Nan West, and Pinkey Whitney.
The Class of 2006 brought in the biggest crowd ever
for the Tribute, helping to raise money and awareness
for the Sports Foundation’s Dreams for Youth program.
The night was filled with wonderful entertainment, fabulous
auction items, and many memorable moments.
The Sports Foundation would like to thank everyone
who helped make the Hall of Fame event a huge success,
including our guests, donors, and bidders. Special recognition
goes to all of our volunteers, who worked tirelessly
on all aspects of the event.
Congratulations to Clear Channel Communications
which received the Sports Foundation’s annual
Salute Award in recognition of their corporate support.
Clear Channel’s WOAI-TV sports anchor Don
Harris deserves kudos for a wonderful job as
emcee.
 Sports
Foundation board member and Hall of Fame founding chair
Janet Holliday was honored with the
national 2005 Hershey’s STRIVE Volunteer of the
Year Award. STRIVE stands for Sports Teach Respect,
Initiative, Values and Excellence and the award honors
adult leaders for their “heartfelt passion, enthusiastic
commitment and contagious spirit to help kids succeed
in youth sports activities.” The National Council
of Youth Sports (NCYS) and the Hershey Company presented
the award, along with a $2500 check that Holliday donated
to the San Antonio Sports Foundation.
Congratulations to our honorees and thanks to everyone
who made it such a special night.
Click
here to see a slideshow from the event.
Let the Madness Begin!
 March
is officially here, which means bring on the madness
and mania of NCAA basketball playoffs! San Antonio will
be a part of the fun March 25 and 27 as UTSA hosts the
2006 NCAA Women’s San Antonio Regional at the
AT&T Center. After this weekend’s conference
tournaments, tune in to ESPN, March 13, at 7 p.m. for
the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special
to find out what teams will come through San Antonio
on the Road to the Final Four.
All-session tickets are $42 for adults and $25 for
youth/student and can be purchased through Ticketmaster
outlets, by calling Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone at
210-224-9600 or online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets
may also be purchased by visiting the AT&T Box Office
or mailing an application to the AT&T Center. Download
an application here.
Send a Young Fan to the Games
In December, more than 400 San Antonio
youth were able to attend the 2005 NCAA Division I Women’s
Volleyball Championship through the Sports Foundation’s
Adopt-a-Player and donated ticket programs. Our goal
is to send even more young fans to the NCAA Regional
this month. A tax deductible donation of $25 will send
one deserving youngster to the tournament or a $100
donation can send five or even be split among an entire
team and 10 kids will each get to attend a session.
Give them an experience they won’t soon forget!
Click here
to pay online.
Roundball Ruckus Revving Up
 Teams
of all ages, from ballers to couch potatoes, are invited
to take the court from April 29-30 in the 2006 Roundball
Ruckus 3-on-3 tournament in the Alamodome parking lot.
All participants will receive a t-shirt and a chance
to rule the winner’s stand in eight different
divisions.
The contest is an official event of Fiesta and features
a 3-point contest, slam dunk contest, hot shot shootout,
and charity line challenge.
Register your team by April 17th and pay only $100
per team. After April 17th, registration fees are $125
per team.
Visit our website,
read about the official rules, and register your team
today.
CODP Divers Make a Splash
at State
 Four
San Antonio divers in the Community Olympic Development
Program (CODP) participated in the UIL State Diving
Championships in Austin Feb. 24 & 25th. In the boys’
4A 1-meter event, Christopher Medley,
a junior at Alamo Heights High School, was 5th and Justin
MacDonald, a sophomore at Brackenridge High
School, was 8th. In the boys’ 5A 1-meter event,
Marshall Edwards, a freshman at Health
Careers High School, placed 12th and Paul Xiques,
a sophomore at O’Connor High School, came in 13th.
All four athletes dive with Alamo Area
Aquatics and were the top two qualifiers in their event
at the regional championship held earlier in February.
Based on the results from the state championship, Chris
Medley and Justin McDonald made All State First Team.
Marshall Edwards and Paul Xiques made All State Second
Team. The CODP is a partnership between the San Antonio
Sports Foundation and the United States Olympic Committee.
CODP Fencers at Junior Olympics
The 2006 Junior Olympics in fencing were
held in Hartford, CN, Feb. 17-20. CODP fencer Steve
Kubik was 6th out of 255 entries in Junior
Men’s Foil (under 20-year old). San Antonian Mark
Kubik, a freshman at Notre Dame, was 14th in
the same event. CODP fencer Kristin Howell
was 20th out of 170 entries in Junior Women’s
Epee.
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| Steve
Kubik fencing in finals. |
Steve was also 14th out of 282 entries
in Cadet Men’s Foil (under 17-year old). Steve
is 16 and a junior at Ronald Reagan High School. In
her first Junior Olympics, CODP fencer Gabrielle
Strass was 36th out of 158 in Cadet Women’s
Epee. Gabrielle is 14 and has three more years in the
under-17 age group.
Steve received 420 national points for his performance
this weekend, jumping from 17th to 13th in the national
cadet (under 17) rankings. He improved to 29th in the
next age group (under 20) juniors from 37th. Mark Kubik
improved from 11th in Juniors to 10th. Kristin Howell
is ranked 8th in Junior Women’s Epee.
The competition was very important in the selection
process for next year’s Junior World Cup competitions
which are needed to get enough points to qualify for
the junior world championships. Mark, Steve and Kristin
improved their standing and their ability to qualify
for international competitions next year. Mark and Kristin
are already qualified for Junior World Cups next year.
Search Begins for Volunteer
Coordinator
 The
Sports Foundation regretfully announces the resignation
of Volunteer Coordinator Donna Browne,
effective March 8. Donna has purchased a ranch and will
be devoting her full time and efforts to this business
venture. We wish her the best.
We are seeking a new part-time Volunteer Coordinator.
If you are interested, or if you know someone who may
be interested, please review the basic job requirements
below and contact Bill Hanson at bhanson@sanantoniosports.org
or 210-820-2111.
Volunteer Coordinator Job Description
- Must be well-organized and capable of undertaking
several projects simultaneously.
- Must be a people-person; able to work well with
all types of
personalities and be flexible in a variety of personnel
situations.
- Must be computer literate; capable of formatting
and maintaining
Excel schedules and worksheets, and Microsoft Word
documents.
- Must be available to work weekends and holidays,
pending the
schedule of Sports Foundation events.
- Primary responsibility is the recruitment, training
and retention of
volunteers for the variety of events and activities
of SASF.
New
and Renewing Individual Members
Marco Barros
Jose Sena
Brian Weiner
Bill West
Champions
Club
Individual
Members at $1,000+
Gary & Shelia Arthur; Morton Baird;
Sam Barshop; Ed Benninger; James Blackwood; Susan Blackwood;
June Bratcher; Tim Brierty; Howard Burris; Jim Callaway;
Ross Davis; James Doyle; Jim Dublin; Charlie Ebrom;
Steve Edlund; Donald Engelhardt; Dr. Frank Fichtel;
Pat & Kelley Frost; Dr. Jamie Garza; Claude Gilmer;
William Greehey; Joe Guinn; Bill & Marcia Hanson;
Cheryl Haywood; Michael Imbimbo; Scott Hefner; Scott
Helbing; George C. Hixon; Steve Isom; Stacey Johnson;
Michael Jourdan; Greg & Leigh Ann King; James Mickey;
Phil Miner; Bob & Laura Raymond; Tom Reardon; Marty
Roos; Dr. Robert Schnitzler; Dr. David Schmidt; Dr.
Earl Smith; Steve Souter; Neill Walsdorf, Jr.; Carri
Wells; Jeff Wentworth; Paul Young
Corporate
Champions
City of San Antonio; AT&T
$50,000
Creative Link; IKON Office Solutions;
San Antonio Express-News; Valero Energy Corporation
$20,000
Langley & Banack; Pepsi Bottling
Group; San Antonio Coca-Cola Bottling Co; Whataburger,
Inc.
$10,000
Budget Car & Truck Rental; Cingular
Wireless; Maverick Video Production; NuMedia: Oak
Farms Dairy; Paladin IT Services; Spectrum Health
Clubs; Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio,
The Dominion Country Club
$5,000
George Becknell; Bender & Associates;
BudCo., Inc.; The CE Group - Communication & Events;
ChapmanSchewe Benefits Consulting; Comet Neon Advertising;
The Darmstetter Company; Ernst & Young; Frost
Bank; H-E-B Grocery Company; The Gambrinus Company;
Hertz Corporation; KPMG; Merrill Lynch; Methodist
Healthcare System; Miner Corporation; The Plaza Club;
Security Service Federal Credit Union; Sterling Bank;
SWBC; US Global Investors; Walton Signage; Wells Fargo
Bank; Zachry Hospitality, Inc.
$2,500
Allegra Print & Imaging; Bank of
America; Broadway National Bank; Catering by Don Strange;
Colonial Supplemental Insurance; Cox Smith Matthews
Incorporated; Ear Medical Group; FIRSTMARK Credit
Union; First Rate Investment Systems;
GLI Distributing; Halo Distributing; Marriott Plaza
San Antonio; Marriott Rivercenter/Riverwalk; Mission
Pharmacal; Pape-Dawson Consulting Engineers, Inc.;
San Antonio Economic Development Foundation; Sterling
Foods; Tesoro Petroleum Companies; Yantis Company
Grants/Foundations
The Alfred S. Gage Foundation, Bexar
County Health & Human Services CDBG; Bexar County
Women's Bar Foundation; Brown Foundation; Charity
Ball Foundation; Coleman Foundation; Criminal Justice
Division JJDP Grant; Criminal Justice Division Safe
and Drug Free Schools Grant; GAC Halff Foundation;
Light Foundation; Myra Stafford Pryor Charitable Trust;
The Sequor Foundation; David & Betty Sachs Foundation;
Smith Barney; Women’s Sports Foundation
Founding
Sponsors
City of San Antonio; H-E-B; USAA Foundation,
A Charitable Trust; Valero Energy Corporation
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