Summer Nationals in '10?

[Phincer]

From today's Miami Herald:

LOCAL ROUNDUP
Fencers say they liked Miami so much they want to return in '10
Fort Lauderdale's Bill Becker didn't capture the title during the final day of the 2007 United State Fencing Association Summer Nationals at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Sunday.

But to everyone involved, he's still a big winner.

A veteran fencer, Becker helped bring the event to Miami. Once it got here, he enlisted the help of his South Florida Fencing Club and his family to help set up and operate the 10-day tourney.

Always the competitor, Becker was not pleased with his fifth-place finish in the men's Veteran 40-plus Sabre. But he was elated with the reaction of the competitors and fans.

''It went incredibly well,'' Becker said. ``It made it tougher trying to run things and compete at the same time, but everyone was very happy with the event.''

The tournament was so successful that Christine Simpson, USFA's associate executive director, has already asked the Miami-Dade Sports Commission to bid for the 2010 event. Next year's tournament is scheduled for San Jose, Calif.

''We had a lot of people during the 10 days tell us they really want to bring another national tournament back here,'' she said. ``We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the attendees. We had 3,380 athletes and probably brought in close to 20,000 people for the event, so it has a big local impact.''

The tournament featured competition in 84 events from youth and adults to wheelchair, veterans and team competition.

Sunday's 40-plus Sabre championship match saw a rally from Steven Heck of Washington, who overtook San Diego's Josh Runyan for the title 10-9.

In the women's Veteran 40-plus Epee, Houston's Suzanne Simpson won her third title of the year, defeating Louise Leighton of Indiana.

In the women's 60-plus Epee, another Texan, Dianne Kallus of Austin, won her third medal of the tournament and second gold.

Kallus also earned a spot on the U.S. world championship team, which will compete this September in Sydney, Australia.


-- BRANT LONG

[fencerwallet]

Hmm... does anyone have the ability to provide the numbers as to the economic impact of the SN on the host city? Just curious.

[Redblade]

Originally Posted by fencerwallet

Hmm... does anyone have the ability to provide the numbers as to the economic impact of the SN on the host city? Just curious.

Those are provided in the bid packet prep material.

[epeemike81]

Originally Posted by Phincer

From today's Miami Herald:
...
The tournament was so successful that Christine Simpson, USFA's associate executive director, has already asked the Miami-Dade Sports Commission to bid for the 2010 event.
...
In the women's 60-plus Epee, another Texan, Dianne Kallus of Austin, won her third medal of the tournament and second gold.

Kallus also earned a spot on the U.S. world championship team, which will compete this September in Sydney, Australia.

-- BRANT LONG

wow... count the mistakes...

-m

[journalmom]

Originally Posted by Phincer

From today's Miami Herald:

The tournament was so successful that Christine Simpson, USFA's associate executive director, has already asked the Miami-Dade Sports Commission to bid for the 2010 event....
''We had a lot of people during the 10 days tell us they really want to bring another national tournament back here,'' she said. ``We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the attendees. We had 3,380 athletes and probably brought in close to 20,000 people for the event, so it has a big local impact.''

Personally, I did not like staying in South Beach. It was too hot, HUMID, expensive, HUMID, and a little too risque for my young fencers to walk around and did I mention too HUMID???

Nothing in my hotel room EVER got dried and by the 6th day, there was mold growing on the ceiling. The rooms were too small for two fencing bags, luggage, and four people. Unless you ate unhealthy greasy sandwiches (and even those weren't cheaper than $7 each), food was too expensive for a family of four. (Although a restaurant called Nexxt on Lincoln Rd. was fabulous and reasonable). And no one told me the beach was topless!!!!!!!!!!!

Traveling there and back wasn't easy either as my 3 hour non-stop American Airline flight home turned into a 13 hour flightmare as thunder and lightning storms stalled everything at the airport and we couldn't get out of Miami. I got to the airport at 1PM for the 3PM flight and we didn't take off until 8PM, finally getting home at 1:30 AM the next day. My husband who tried to go home on Monday night also had trouble leaving on time due to lightning and his original 9PM flight home didn't happen until after midnight, and finally got home at 6AM the next day. Of course, some fault is with the airline but the unpredictable weather in Miami, in the hurricane season, didn't help either. (The stresses of traveling coupled with the weather made two of us really sick with hackiing colds that lasted until we got home.)

I heard the First Aid station trainers saw an unusual number of athletes with cramping at this tournament and they didn't know why. I believe it maybe the weather in Miami.

Maybe a NAC is possible since the event is just for a weekend but the city is not the greatest to stay for such a long time....especially in the summer.

Just my two cents.

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by journalmom

I heard the First Aid station trainers saw an unusual number of athletes with cramping at this tournament and they didn't know why. I believe it maybe the weather in Miami.

Agreed on all counts, except the "risque" part. As a single man, I had to love that.

And I strongly suspect that you are right on the cramping: depleted electrolytes. After my last bout it took me a good 15 minutes to stop streaming sweat profusely. Damned humidity, I always felt like I was coated in grease whenever I was outside an air-conditioned building...

[DJ Apostrophe]

I loved it.

My favorite Summer Nationals to date... I've now been to:

'03 - Austin
'04 - Charlotte
'05 - Sacramento
'06 - Atlanta
'07 - Miami Beach

I loved that when we were done for the day, restaurants were still open, so plenty of choices on what to eat, they were a bit more expensive, but I had expected and planned for that, and being able to walk a couple blocks to the beach was great...

I didn't like being so far way (Marriott Biscayne Bay - officials hotel)... the hotel was very nice, but bus kind of sucked... If I were to go back there I'd probably take the public bus at $1.50 that runs every 20 mins for 24 hrs, stops a block from the hotel and a block from the convention center and takes the shorter route (the Venetian Causeway) than wait for the shuttle bus... Even better than that, I'd stay at one of the hotels on Collins Ave. and not have to worry about getting back and forth at all.

Too many places we have gone have been Convention Center, Hotel and Hotel restaurant... Denver (JOs) and Miami Beach have been the opposite and I applaud that, and hope the trend continues.

-w

[HDG]

Originally Posted by journalmom

Nothing in my hotel room EVER got dried and by the 6th day, there was mold growing on the ceiling.

Where in god's name did you stay?

Originally Posted by journalmom

And no one told me the beach was topless!!!!!!!!!!!

No one asked

[darius]

Too many places we have gone have been Convention Center, Hotel and Hotel restaurant... Denver (JOs) and Miami Beach have been the opposite and I applaud that, and hope the trend continues.

Agreed 100%. And my fatigue levels were remarkably low -- the "venue sickness" that seems to occur after day 3 of any given NAC didn't happen. I attribute this to the availability of the beach post-event.

I didn't like the way that hotels were spread out; we had a rental car, but to visit friends in the host hotel, it was a bit of a haul, especially on the flooded streets!

Other than that, the experience was great. The Days Inn had a gyros joint a block away. Greek food = non greasy, cheap, and tasty. I'd still say Austin takes the cake for having:

a) lots of hotels within walking distance from the venue
b) places to eat at all hours
c) nice venue

Ranking Nationals:
1. Austin
2. Miami (beach and nightlife is a plus, being spread out is a minus)
3. Sacramento (long walk to food, city closes early, otherwise nice)
4. Atlanta (barely walkable, barely drivable, not much food choice)
5. Greenville (not walkable)
6. Charlotte (not walkable, LONG drive between hotel-venue, horrible venue, staying at the Murder Inn was cheap though!)

darius

[jrgunn]

Originally Posted by journalmom

Personally, I did not like staying in South Beach. It was too hot, HUMID, expensive, HUMID, and a little too risque for my young fencers to walk around and did I mention too HUMID???

Nothing in my hotel room EVER got dried and by the 6th day, there was mold growing on the ceiling. The rooms were too small for two fencing bags, luggage, and four people. Unless you ate unhealthy greasy sandwiches (and even those weren't cheaper than $7 each), food was too expensive for a family of four. (Although a restaurant called Nexxt on Lincoln Rd. was fabulous and reasonable). And no one told me the beach was topless!!!!!!!!!!!

Traveling there and back wasn't easy either as my 3 hour non-stop American Airline flight home turned into a 13 hour flightmare as thunder and lightning storms stalled everything at the airport and we couldn't get out of Miami. I got to the airport at 1PM for the 3PM flight and we didn't take off until 8PM, finally getting home at 1:30 AM the next day. My husband who tried to go home on Monday night also had trouble leaving on time due to lightning and his original 9PM flight home didn't happen until after midnight, and finally got home at 6AM the next day. Of course, some fault is with the airline but the unpredictable weather in Miami, in the hurricane season, didn't help either. (The stresses of traveling coupled with the weather made two of us really sick with hackiing colds that lasted until we got home.)

I heard the First Aid station trainers saw an unusual number of athletes with cramping at this tournament and they didn't know why. I believe it maybe the weather in Miami.

Maybe a NAC is possible since the event is just for a weekend but the city is not the greatest to stay for such a long time....especially in the summer.

Just my two cents.

Usually, I don't like to quote an entire post, but my experience was almost exactly the same point per point; with the exception that the two hour delay caused American Airlines to lose my son's equipment bag (still lost today); fortunately, his uniform, shoes, and lame were in our regular luggage which we got the next day.
I found the locals to be impatient with a native English speaker, those at my hotel were downright rude (Days Inn Oceanside), and the small insulated lunchbox I carried my icepacks and medication in for my shoulder was stolen first thing in the morning before the Y14 Sabre competition.
All in all, I would prefer anywhere but Miami.

[oso97]

Originally Posted by journalmom

And no one told me the beach was topless!!!!!!!!!!!

Go there early enough in the morning and its more than just topless...

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by oso97

Go there early enough in the morning and its more than just topless...

Now we'll never get there again.

[AndrewH]

Besides the flight delays (which were not fault of the city), I thought it was a great place, at least for the short time I was in town. I happen to enjoy the hot humid weather. My hotel was a short drive from the convention center (around 73rd st) and there was a 24 hour walgreens & ihop nearby for snacks & breakfast. Hotel was affordable, right across the street from the ocean and the staff friendly. Convention center didn't require a mile's walk to get to the fencing area, $10 parking wasn't too bad either, at least compared to some other cities (Hartford?). Plus, we managed to get a parking space on Ocean Drive for dinner so that's just icing on the cake.

[KD5MDK]

If we could get the hotel to on Miami Beach I'm sure it'd be a lot nicer. I think a lot of the positive feelings have to do with how early we got out most days.

Personally, I was annoyed at the prospect of finishing my event, riding back to the hotel, changing, heading back to Miami Beach (where the nice walking and eating was) and then either paying for a cab back or catching the relatively early buses back (ending usually at what, 7:30 or so pm?). If we go back I'll definitely be staying on the island.

[scarlet_woman156k]

I would go back to Miami Beach in a heartbeat. It actually felt like a vacation. I've never said that about any NAC/Nationals before (actually, downtown Chattanooga was suprisingly nice and had some fun things to do). I stayed at an ultra-cheap hotel that was clean and non-moldy, only two blocks from the venue and one block from the beach...San Juan Hotel. I got it for $60 a night. Not bad. If you were wise, you could find reasonably-priced food and the happy hour prices were great. The beach was awesome at 17th Street. NO Complaints.

Humidity was pretty brutal, but if you're in the venue or at the beach/pool, everything was great. Then head out at night for some dinner! Not to mention, my events went pretty darn smoothly. Best time ever...thank you USFA!

[noodle]

i got the feel that south beach was a tourist trap.
but maybe thats because i've been to a lot of other east coast beaches.

[bunbury]

Originally Posted by noodle

i got the feel that south beach was a tourist trap.
but maybe thats because i've been to a lot of other east coast beaches.

or because you're a sucker... *cough*

[journalmom]

As far as food goes, the pasta station at the venue was awesome. It was fresh, cooked right there in front of you, variety of choices, and great carb food for the athletes. For once, I didn't have to worry about being limited to greasy foods venues usually have. Now only if they had sushi....

I heard staying on the other side of causeway in Miami was worse than South Beach since everything was far apart and you needed taxi to get around. So in that sense, South Beach was very convenient.

I guess South Beach is definitely better for singles than families for many reasons.

Can't please everyone.

[trazom]

Originally Posted by noodle

i got the feel that south beach was a tourist trap.
but maybe thats because i've been to a lot of other east coast beaches.

Ditto.

It had a lot of the pushy restaurant feeling I remember from various places in Europe which were known tourist traps ("Please eat here. We'll throw in free wine. We're begging you. See our nice menu plated and wrapped in saran wrap here?")

Perhaps my personal experience differed from the majority, but the super high humidity coupled with insane amounts of AC when indoors made me constantly dehydrated. I was probably drinking 70-80 oz of water a day - and still had a scratchy throat from dehydration.

However, I'm not a beach person, so that may be coloring my opinion.

Austin, when run well, is still tops for SN in my book.