Baylor University Athletic Director Ian McCaw came to Waco in the aftermath of one of the ugliest scandals in college athletics. He leaves in the middle of another one.
McCaw was hired in 2003 after Baylor’s basketball scandal, when student-athlete Patrick Dennehy was shot dead near a gravel pit and his former teammate, Carlton Dotson, was accused, eventually pleaded guilty and received a 35-year sentence for the murder.
But that was only part of the story, as head basketball coach Dave Bliss encouraged his staff to portray Dennehy as a drug dealer to save his own job and reputation. Bliss eventually resigned after an assistant coach taped Bliss’ conversations and exposed the coverup.
In the wake of that mess, McCaw came in to add respect and integrity to the program and watched head coach Scott Drew lead the basketball team to 20-win seasons, NCAA Elite Eight appearances and an NIT Championship.
It’s ironic, then, that another scandal, this time involving...
We continue our Featured Benefit for the month of May with a blog post on the NASC Playbook.
The NASC Playbook is the official quarterly publication of the NASC and is mailed to each member organization. The NASC Playbook is published in March, June, September and December each year. Content includes association updates, member news, and industry trends and best practices for the sport tourism industry.
In an effort to enhance the overall content of The NASC Playbook, we like to include peer-written articles in future editions. NASC members have a knowledge of the industry, which lends itself to unprecedented expertise. We encourage you to share your expertise with your peers through well-written commentary.
Submission Guidelines
All content should be approximately 400 words and the author should provide a minimum of two photos (author head shot and photo for topic).
Our Media Advisers at Game Day Communications can help with final edits.
For content submission, ...
For many of you, whether you’re an events rights holder or operate a sports venue, this is your Christmas season—it’s your busiest, most frantic time of the year as schools let out and summer sports organizations kick into high event gear. You’ll be working on multi-session, multi-day tournaments and won’t be able to catch your breath until the last champion is crowned.
So this is a good time to remind all of us, in between cursing the rain, the broken popcorn maker and the late t-shirt delivery, why we do what we do in sports, especially youth sports.
Earlier this year, Fortune Magazine published an article, “Here’s Why Women Who Play Sports Are More Successful” by Beth Brooke-Marciniak, global vice chair of public policy at EY.
A study by Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports confirms what we all know—about 70% of children in the U.S drop out of organized sports before age 13. We’...
If, as they say, everything is bigger in Texas, well this should fit nicely. A high school in Texas has plans to build a $62.8 million football stadium, and it’s not alone in its plans for bigger and better facilities.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the school board in McKinney, Texas, outside of Dallas, this month approved a $220 million bond proposal for the district, including the construction of a 12,000 seat, $62.8 million football stadium.
Now, McKinney isn’t the first to do this. In fact, the Katy, Texas, Independent School District has proposed a 12,000 seat facility that is expected to cost anywhere from $58 million to $61 million. And the Allen Independent School District, just 10 miles from McKinney, opened an 18,000 seat, $60 million stadium in 2012. For its opening game, the home team had 22,000 fans show up.
“I think McKinney needs it,” said Tim Carroll, director of public information for the Allen school district. Carroll says a lar...
Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today!
Financing Sport Tourism & Recreation Assets, Part II
Best Practices Webinar
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Presented by Don Schumacher
Register Now!
Join NASC Executive Director, Don Schumacher, CSEE as he presents a follow up to the Financing Sport Tourism session that was presented in Grand Rapids, MI during the 24th NASC Symposium.
During this webinar, Don will discuss proven methods, critical elements, and insight to demystify the financing process for new sports venues. This is a webinar for those with an interest in new project development and those desiring to broaden their knowledge related to project finance.
There will be time at the end of the webinar for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 25th, you can download the recording from the webinar archives page on www.SportsCommissions.org.
NASC Economic Impact Calculator
Best Practices Webinar
Wednesday...
An interesting website, www.changingthegameproject.com, posted an interesting article recently called “How Adults Take the Joy out of Sports (And How We Can Fix It).” The article opens with a youngster playing soccer, almost frozen on the field as his coach is instructing him to do one thing, and his dad is yelling at him to do another. Not knowing which way to turn, the player does nothing.
We’ve talked before about how kids often lose the joy of playing sports, and parents can be to blame for that. The article states that many kids quit when the enjoyment, one of three key components along with autonomy and motivation, is gone.
The article also talks about a great example of what it’s like for a team to play with joy. Look no farther than the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, who seemingly play with childlike enthusiasm and pure happiness. That joy translates into a record win streak and, very likely, another title this season.
So how do a...
For Indianapolis, a city known for its upcoming Indianapolis 500, often referred to as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” it may have seemed a bit out of context when Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard talked in 2013 about having cricket as a viable sport for Indy. But out of that talk grew a nearly $6 million project to create a complex that would hold the event on the city's far east side.
Out of that came the Indianapolis World Sports Park, a 40-acre former city park that turned into an international sports complex capable of holding local, regional, national and international cricket, rugby, lacrosse and hurling events.
So, the logical question might be—why cricket? At the time of the original announcement, Mayor Ballard said the city was confident developments like these will help Indianapolis attract businesses from India and other parts of the globe where these sports are popular.
“This is our commitment to international sports,” he sai...
We continue our Featured Benefit for the month of April with a blog post on Models and Samples. Who has time to re-invent the wheel? Our collection of models and samples, used by real destinations, event organizers, and industry partners, is designed to generate ideas and save you time. Feel free to adapt to your needs or adopt it as is! Below is a list of the models & samples we currently have available.
· Bid Scoresheet Template
· Bylaws
· Event RFPs
· Facility Specification Guide
· Facility Survey Questionnaires
· Internship Descriptions
· Job Descriptions
· ...
Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today!
Asian Basketball Championships of North America
Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Presented by Mike Mon
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Join Mike Mon from Asian Basketball Championships of North America as he shares information on what he looks for in a host city and what it takes to host their events. Asian Basketball Championships of North America is currently accepting bids for 2017, 2018 and 2019. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 26th, remember you can download the webinar recording from our Webinar Archives (login required).
Ways to Ensure a High Return on your NASC Membership Investment
Best Practices Webinar
Tuesday, April 28, 2016
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Presented by Elizabeth Young
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Elizabeth Young, Director of Me...
The idea of crisis plans for your team, event or venue is to try to think of anything and everything that can happen, and make sure you have a correct response to every scenario you can come up with. auction-gavel-2
But too often, no one takes into consideration 1) demanding parents and 2) litigation at the drop of a gavel.
When his 16-year-old son didn't get the most valuable player award, Michel Croteau didn't get mad, he tried to get even. He hired a lawyer and sued his son's youth hockey league to the tune of more than $200,000. Croteau claimed his son Steve should have been the MVP since he had the most goals and assists in the league. When he didn’t win, daddy claimed that Steve was so embarrassed, he wanted to quit hockey.
This isn’t an isolated case. In the year the Croteau lawsuit was filed, 2013, parents filed more than 200 non-injury-related sports lawsuits against coaches, leagues and school districts in the Uni...