2006 Nationals

[Sassafras]

An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the 2006 Nationals finalists listed as Cleveland, Minneapolis, St Louis and Cincinnati. Cleveland is hosting a site-visit today. The winner is to be announced by November 2.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/sports/1032860089204630.xml

P.S. I had no idea a bid was so expensive!

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the Cleveland news link. I know that St. Louis' site visit was yesterday, but I haven't heard or read any news about it as yet.

[Spinner]

*crossing fingers it's either Cincinnati, Cleveland or St. Louis...since I can drive to any of those! ;)*

[Aaron W]

I was just at the Iceland USA rink in Strongsville a little over a week ago and it's a very nice facility. It just opened earlier this month and I think it would make a nice host for the novice and some of the junior events. However, it's pretty far outside of downtown Cleveland. So the organizing committee would need to make sure they have a *good* transportation system between the official hotels, the Gund, and Iceland USA. Wouldn't hurt if they would get police escorts like Boston did for their transportation. :)

[adrianchew]

Aaron - there were police escorts in LA, but they sure had problems co-ordinating the buses to be in the right place at the right time. What a mess it was - I spent most of my time in the car Spinner rented instead. :roll:

[ClevelandDancer]

Originally posted by Aaron W
I was just at the Iceland USA rink in Strongsville a little over a week ago and it's a very nice facility. It just opened earlier this month and I think it would make a nice host for the novice and some of the junior events. However, it's pretty far outside of downtown Cleveland. So the organizing committee would need to make sure they have a *good* transportation system between the official hotels, the Gund, and Iceland USA. Wouldn't hurt if they would get police escorts like Boston did for their transportation. :)

I went to visit it the other day and it is indeed a nice facility. However, the board of the resident skating club (formerly Greenbrier FSC, now Strongsville FSC), umm, leaves much to be desired. I am a former associate member (home club elsewhere) and in my experience the board changes their rules on whims, especially in regards to contracted ice. Unfortunate for me, because this new dual-rink facility is very nice and is closer to my home than any other. :cry: The club also made a royal mess out of Tri-States last year. They did get a lot of new members this season who flocked to "the new rink", but there are lots of people like me that avoiding them like the plague. It's quite an unfortunate situation all around, really. I'm hoping that club gets a full board turnover in the next couple years. For the time being, I'll keep skating elsewhere.

On the bright side, this is only one club out of about thirteen in the Cleveland Skating Council, which is who would really run the show should Cleveland get the nod again (just hosted Nationals in 2000).

[Aaron W]

Originally posted by ClevelandDancer
On the bright side, this is only one club out of about thirteen in the Cleveland Skating Council, which is who would really run the show should Cleveland get the nod again (just hosted Nationals in 2000).

Is Glenn Watts a new member of this club? I know he use to be based out of Winterhurst with Carol Heiss and I assume was part of the club's board members there, but since he is now the skating director in Strongsville, I'm assuming he's on the Strongsville board. If that's the case, then hopefully his presence will bring about some changes to the problems you noted. I've never met him, but in passing he's always seemed like a decent guy.

[ClevelandDancer]

Yes, Glyn Watts is the skating director there now. Since they didn't have such a thing when it was Greenbrier, I believe it's a new position for him. It would be outstanding if he helped the club situation get straightened out. I'm guessing it's going to be bumpy there for a while though, so I'll just keep my skates out of it for now. I've got plenty of people around (including my coach) that will know if and when the situation is better.

[bonnie]

Wow! I've got my fingers crossed for Cleveland hosting Nationals again. This time, I'll even go!

[Josef]

Any of these would be nice! None are *too* far away.. But I'd prefer either Minneapolis or St. Louis. :)

[ClevelandDancer]

Originally posted by Sassafras
P.S. I had no idea a bid was so expensive!

It is very expensive to host a competition. It takes a lot of money to rent places like Gund Arena (NBA basketball arena, have concerts and SOI, COI, Scott Hamilton's show and the like there too) and get blocks of hotel rooms and other infrastructure. I'm guessing the USFSA just requires the bid money upfront to make sure that the bidding organization can afford the deposits and such that would be required to host such a large event. The article does say that if a prospective host does NOT get the bid they do get the money back.

P.S. Don't get confused though, hosting a competition is a HUGE money-maker for the hosts! They may need $300K up front to put it together, but last time Cleveland brought in $750K, a nice profit wouldn't you say? :)

[Mel On Ice]

c'mon... St. Louis has NEVER hosted the event, and everyone here is drooling at the chance!

STL! STL! STL!

[NiceIce]

Cincinnati is THE best option. Within a few hours drive of at least a third of the skaters that will probably make it Nationals.
Great riverfront location, and so close to Indianapolis, and major skating cities like Detroit, Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Cleveland, but Cleveland just hosted it recently, so it is time for the Queen City to reign.:)