[ Contact Info ] • Web Site: www.greatLVsoccer.com • Telephone #: 1-877-346-6751 • E-mail: soccer@lehighvalleypa.org • Mail: Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival % Lehigh Valley Sports Commission PO Box 20785, Lehigh Valley, PA 18002-0785		[ Press Releases ] February 6, 2003 Contact: Gene Nichols, (610) 882-9200 gnichols@lehighvalleypa.org LEHIGH VALLEY SPORTS COMMISSION SCORES FIRST GOAL Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival to Make for “Great” Labor Day Weekend (Lehigh Valley, PA) – The Lehigh Valley Sports Commission, founded in 2002 as an arm of the Lehigh Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, has landed its first major event. Colone Associates, an event management company based in New York, will bring the Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival to the Lehigh County Soccer Complex on August 30-31, 2003. The tournament will feature girls and boys divisions with competitive brackets for both club and select teams in age groups from under 10 through under 19. Each of the 100 teams expected to participate will be guaranteed at least four matches. Approximately 1500 athletes, along with 2500 parents and fans, are anticipated to arrive in the Valley for the Labor Day event. Participants will be drawn from throughout the northeast and Mid-Atlantic region. Colone Associates has been programming soccer tournaments throughout the northeast since 1999. The Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival will become the newest event in its Boys and Girls of Summer Soccer Series, joining the Nice n Easy NY/NY Premier in Oxford, NY and the B.C. Kicks tournament in Binghamton, NY. Although this will be the first edition of the Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival, both the Lehigh Valley Sports Commission and Colone Associates, see it as an annual event which will eventually grow to the size of the other Summer Soccer Series events. In 2002 the B.C. Kicks tournament involved 171 teams over two weekends, a dramatic increase from the 24 teams that participated in its first year. According to the New York State Department of Commerce, $500,000 in direct spending was injected into the economy of Broome County, NY as a result of the event. A similar economic impact can eventually be expected locally as a result of the Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival. Albert Colone, owner of Colone Associates, asserts that these events are “designed to be commercial ventures…to energize communities like the Lehigh Valley in hopes of producing economic vitality.” According to Colone, the Lehigh Valley was chosen as a home for the tournament because of the area’s many recreational opportunities. “The Lehigh Valley is a community with an incredible array of entertainment options beyond the soccer fields. It’s where the action is!” The Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival is being officially hosted by the Lehigh Valley Soccer Club, a premiere division that has called the Valley home since 1998. Mark Stebbins of the Lehigh Valley Soccer Club says that “we are proud to be associated with this tournament, and we are looking forward to working with the organizers and the Lehigh Valley community to see that it is a success.” According to Doug Jinks, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Youth Soccer League, with which the Lehigh Valley Soccer Club is affiliated, “the Lehigh Valley Youth Soccer League is happy to see another local soccer opportunity for Lehigh Valley youth. It should be great for soccer in particular and the community in general.” The soccer festival will coincide with many family events and attractions open in the Lehigh Valley throughout Labor Day weekend. The Great Allentown Fair lends part of its name to the Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival; other attractions such as Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, The Crayola FACTORY® and the Game Preserve will be ready to make the Lehigh Valley the perfect late-summer vacation for the families and friends of tournament participants. The task of finding hotel rooms for visiting athletes and spectators will be handled by The THS Company, a Housing Bureau with which the Sports Commission has contracted. Visitors will be able to easily make reservations via the Internet or telephone. Scott Craver, chairman of the Lehigh Valley Sports Commission, is excited about the prospect of hosting the Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival. “We are thrilled to partner with Lehigh Valley Soccer Club and Colone Associates to provide an exciting Labor Day sports event for the next 2 years,” he says. “We estimate that this event will have 1500 players and their families visit the Lehigh Valley to enjoy our attractions, our restaurants, our hotels, our stores and the Great Allentown Fair.” Michael Kusmuk, Sports Marketing Manager for the Lehigh Valley Sports Commission, played an integral role in landing the Great Lehigh Valley Soccer Festival. “We have been working on bringing this event to the Valley since July of 2002,” he says. “It’s a perfect beginning for the Sports Commission because the soccer festival is indicative of the type of event we will be actively recruiting in the years to come.” Since its inception, the Lehigh Valley Sports Commission has been working to attract sporting events to the area. It works with regional and national event management companies and national governing bodies to promote the Lehigh Valley as a sports destination. Created only seven months ago, the commission is beginning to gain momentum. “We are off to a great start with the Sports Commission, with each member contributing their talent and resources to help land new events that will benefit the Valley’s economy,” says Chairman Craver. The Lehigh Valley Sports Commission is an arm of the Lehigh Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, the designated tourism promotion agency of Lehigh and Northampton Counties. Its mission is to attract sports events to the Lehigh Valley through effective marketing, bid coordination, and hosting activities. For information on the Lehigh Valley Sports Commission or the Lehigh Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau call (800) 747-0561 or e-mail geninfo@lehighvalleypa.org.