2006 NAFA World Series to Kimberly-Appleton Wisconsin
Wisconsin bids to remain the capital of the fastpitch world here in the United States, as yet another National tournament is headed to the Badger state, in 2006 when the North American Fastpitch Association (NAFA) brings its World Series to Kimberly-Appelton, Wisconsin in 2006.
Kimberly, Wisconsin has been the site of many ISC World Tournaments, including the one held in 2003. This year's World Tournament and ISC II Tournament of Champions is set for Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, which hosted the NAFA World Series in 2003. The folks in Wisconsin have plenty of experience, and have received great reviews from the fastpitch world, so not surprising that they would be selected by these national organization.
Thanks to NAFA's new webmaster and media director, Brett Bresnahan for the information provided below on the selection of Kimberly-Appleton for the 2006 NAFA World Series. Brett is from Minnesota, and will play a big role in this summer's NAFA World Series in Mankato, Minnesota. From NAFA:
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NAFA Executive Director Benjie Hedgecock has announced that the 2006 North American Fastpitch Association Men's Fastpitch World Series will be held in Kimberly-Appleton, Wisconsin in 2006. Specific dates for each class will be set at this year's World Series in North Mankato, Minnesota after conferring with the teams. Appleton-Kimberly, Wisconsin edged out Des Moines, Iowa for the 2006 event.
Appleton-Kimberly, Wisconsin is part of the Fox Valley which included 15 small cities that have been selected as the second safest cities in the United States. Hedgecock says, “The area has their own airport in town so once you fly in you will be within 10 minutes of just about anything you can think of. This will be a unique setting as it will be the first time in many years that NAFA has held its World Series where the teams could fly directly into the town we (NAFA) are playing in and get a rental car there or take a free shuttle to their motel in under 10
minutes.”
There are over 2,200 motel rooms in the 15 minute area, with over 1,100 two bedded rooms. Hedgecock also states that the host motel, The Radisson Paper Valley, has 400 rooms itself and is located downtown so you can virtually walk to anything you need from nightlife to restaurants to services.
The playing facilities are excellent and have hosted the ISC World Tournament 10 times, most recently in 2003, when they had 80,000 spectators. The two-field Kimberly Facility, Sunset Park, is recognized as one of the finest, if not the finest fastpitch facility in the world.
The seven-field Appleton Memorial Park Complex is very well suited for the NAFA World Series with all seven fields together in a four-field wheel and a three-field wheel. All fields are lit, have very green outfields and very fine infield surfaces according to Hedgecock. These facilities will be host in 2005 to the Wisconsin NAFA Travel League. Food and beverage concessions as well as umpire changing facilities will possibly be the best ever.
Wisconsin is proud to be the state with the most men's fastpitch teams in the United States and they are also the largest NAFA State in the U.S. Appleton, 30 minutes south of Green Bay and 90 minutes north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is located very well in the Midwest and very close to many of our Canadian teams.
Site Selection Criteria
The combination of allowing Midwest teams drive from their hometown to Appleton and by introducing direct air flights right into Appleton, NAFA completes its goals as set by the teams and the Executive Committee at the 2004 World Series, when the following items were prioritized through team surveys.
First, almost 100% of the players favored a mild-weather climate to a hot-weather climate. The second priority was to go to an area that had the experience to run our event the right way on the best fields available and that has enough fields to have each team feel like they are important and not sent out to a satellite field. Third was to try and keep the event central to the Midwest The fourth priority was that the NAFA players wanted to go somewhere that they haven't been before Fifth was to find a destination location with after hours activities for adults and for families The sixth priority was to find a location with a local airport as teams have been flying in and driving 45-90 minutes for many years. The final two priorities were to someday go to Canada and to the East Coast while not giving up the other six priorities listed above. “Obviously, Des Moines, Iowa, the runner-up, provided many of the same benefits that Appleton, Wisconsin provided and should feel proud to be a finalist in this search for the best places to host our NAFA World Series,” Hedgecock says.
Specific after hours items include: Oneida Bingo & Casino, Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers minor league baseball, TDS Players Choice indoor sports park, The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, The Fox River Mall, specialty shops, downtown farmer's markets, karaoke, restaurants that don’t close until 11, bars that you can walk to safely that don’t close until 2:30 and the flavor of 15 little cities all close enough to be considered on big city,
“The Appleton-Kimberly NAFA World Series Committee is a very strong group led by Chad Mix, a well respected men's fastpitch player,” states Hedgecock. “He leads a 9-person committee that will oversee the operation and promotion of the event per the NAFA World Series Contract. “
The key volunteer groups that will help to make the 2006 NAFA World Series a success are: first the Kimberly Recreation Association, who is considered the top Softball National Tournament Committee in the Nation, led by Al Schaefer of Kimberly Parks and Recreation. They have successfully operated 10 ISC World Tournaments and second, the Appleton Rockers Fastpitch Association. They successfully handled the ISCII event held in Appleton two years ago. They also hold the largest fastpitch tournament annually at Memorial Park in Appleton.
Hospitality
Businesses already have free coupons and giveaways setup at some great
restaurants and bars
Sites Considered
The teams gave us many recommendations for us to evaluate and the top
recommended cities for us to evaluate as suggested by the teams were: 1) Denver,
Colorado, 2) Niagara Falls (both East Coast and in Canada), 3) Memphis, Tennessee,
4) Des Moines, Iowa, 5) Appleton, Wisconsin, 6) Decatur, Illinois, 7)
Ontario, Canada, 8) Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 9) Midland, Michigan, 10) Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, 11) Salem, Virginia, 12) South Bend, Indiana, 13) Chicago,
Illinois, 14) Omaha, Nebraska, 15) Springfield, Missouri, 16) Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, 17) Minneapolis, Minnesota, 18) Salem, Oregon, 19) Reno, Nevada, 20)
Orlando, Florida, 21) Cleveland, Ohio, 22) Ashland, Ohio, and 23) Sacramento,
California.
NAFA would like to offer its appreciation of some people and organizations that assisted in the bid presentation and site inspection by NAFA Executive Director, Benjie Hedgecock and Local Wisconsin NAFA Board Member, Kevin Musolf. The Outagamie County Airport for providing the plane ticket to do the site survey, the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel for housing while the survey was conducted, the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sports Commission Manager, Pete Schueppert and Executive Director Lynn Peters, the Vince Lombardi
Steakhouse, the Cheyenne Sports Bar & Grill, the Vegas Lounge, the Los Compadres
Restaurant, the TDS Player's Choice Indoor Sports Park, Oneida Bingo & Casino, Mark
Miller and the Bar of Appleton.
For more information about Appleton and the Fox Cities contact, Pete Schueppert, Sports Sales Manager, Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau at 920.734.3358 (Local) or 800.236.4114 (Toll Free) or 920.734.1080 (Fax), e-mail Pete at pschueppert@foxcities.org and visit their website at www.foxcities.org.
Brett Bresnahan
NAFA Webmaster and Media Director
mnfastpitch@hotmail.com
Thanks to NAFA's new webmaster and media director, Brett Bresnahan for the information provided below on the selection of Kimberly-Appleton for the 2006 NAFA World Series. Brett is from Minnesota, and will play a big role in this summer's NAFA World Series in Mankato, Minnesota. From NAFA:
--
NAFA Executive Director Benjie Hedgecock has announced that the 2006 North American Fastpitch Association Men's Fastpitch World Series will be held in Kimberly-Appleton, Wisconsin in 2006. Specific dates for each class will be set at this year's World Series in North Mankato, Minnesota after conferring with the teams. Appleton-Kimberly, Wisconsin edged out Des Moines, Iowa for the 2006 event.
Appleton-Kimberly, Wisconsin is part of the Fox Valley which included 15 small cities that have been selected as the second safest cities in the United States. Hedgecock says, “The area has their own airport in town so once you fly in you will be within 10 minutes of just about anything you can think of. This will be a unique setting as it will be the first time in many years that NAFA has held its World Series where the teams could fly directly into the town we (NAFA) are playing in and get a rental car there or take a free shuttle to their motel in under 10
minutes.”
There are over 2,200 motel rooms in the 15 minute area, with over 1,100 two bedded rooms. Hedgecock also states that the host motel, The Radisson Paper Valley, has 400 rooms itself and is located downtown so you can virtually walk to anything you need from nightlife to restaurants to services.
The playing facilities are excellent and have hosted the ISC World Tournament 10 times, most recently in 2003, when they had 80,000 spectators. The two-field Kimberly Facility, Sunset Park, is recognized as one of the finest, if not the finest fastpitch facility in the world.
The seven-field Appleton Memorial Park Complex is very well suited for the NAFA World Series with all seven fields together in a four-field wheel and a three-field wheel. All fields are lit, have very green outfields and very fine infield surfaces according to Hedgecock. These facilities will be host in 2005 to the Wisconsin NAFA Travel League. Food and beverage concessions as well as umpire changing facilities will possibly be the best ever.
Wisconsin is proud to be the state with the most men's fastpitch teams in the United States and they are also the largest NAFA State in the U.S. Appleton, 30 minutes south of Green Bay and 90 minutes north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is located very well in the Midwest and very close to many of our Canadian teams.
Site Selection Criteria
The combination of allowing Midwest teams drive from their hometown to Appleton and by introducing direct air flights right into Appleton, NAFA completes its goals as set by the teams and the Executive Committee at the 2004 World Series, when the following items were prioritized through team surveys.
First, almost 100% of the players favored a mild-weather climate to a hot-weather climate. The second priority was to go to an area that had the experience to run our event the right way on the best fields available and that has enough fields to have each team feel like they are important and not sent out to a satellite field. Third was to try and keep the event central to the Midwest The fourth priority was that the NAFA players wanted to go somewhere that they haven't been before Fifth was to find a destination location with after hours activities for adults and for families The sixth priority was to find a location with a local airport as teams have been flying in and driving 45-90 minutes for many years. The final two priorities were to someday go to Canada and to the East Coast while not giving up the other six priorities listed above. “Obviously, Des Moines, Iowa, the runner-up, provided many of the same benefits that Appleton, Wisconsin provided and should feel proud to be a finalist in this search for the best places to host our NAFA World Series,” Hedgecock says.
Specific after hours items include: Oneida Bingo & Casino, Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers minor league baseball, TDS Players Choice indoor sports park, The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, The Fox River Mall, specialty shops, downtown farmer's markets, karaoke, restaurants that don’t close until 11, bars that you can walk to safely that don’t close until 2:30 and the flavor of 15 little cities all close enough to be considered on big city,
“The Appleton-Kimberly NAFA World Series Committee is a very strong group led by Chad Mix, a well respected men's fastpitch player,” states Hedgecock. “He leads a 9-person committee that will oversee the operation and promotion of the event per the NAFA World Series Contract. “
The key volunteer groups that will help to make the 2006 NAFA World Series a success are: first the Kimberly Recreation Association, who is considered the top Softball National Tournament Committee in the Nation, led by Al Schaefer of Kimberly Parks and Recreation. They have successfully operated 10 ISC World Tournaments and second, the Appleton Rockers Fastpitch Association. They successfully handled the ISCII event held in Appleton two years ago. They also hold the largest fastpitch tournament annually at Memorial Park in Appleton.
Hospitality
Businesses already have free coupons and giveaways setup at some great
restaurants and bars
Sites Considered
The teams gave us many recommendations for us to evaluate and the top
recommended cities for us to evaluate as suggested by the teams were: 1) Denver,
Colorado, 2) Niagara Falls (both East Coast and in Canada), 3) Memphis, Tennessee,
4) Des Moines, Iowa, 5) Appleton, Wisconsin, 6) Decatur, Illinois, 7)
Ontario, Canada, 8) Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 9) Midland, Michigan, 10) Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, 11) Salem, Virginia, 12) South Bend, Indiana, 13) Chicago,
Illinois, 14) Omaha, Nebraska, 15) Springfield, Missouri, 16) Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, 17) Minneapolis, Minnesota, 18) Salem, Oregon, 19) Reno, Nevada, 20)
Orlando, Florida, 21) Cleveland, Ohio, 22) Ashland, Ohio, and 23) Sacramento,
California.
NAFA would like to offer its appreciation of some people and organizations that assisted in the bid presentation and site inspection by NAFA Executive Director, Benjie Hedgecock and Local Wisconsin NAFA Board Member, Kevin Musolf. The Outagamie County Airport for providing the plane ticket to do the site survey, the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel for housing while the survey was conducted, the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sports Commission Manager, Pete Schueppert and Executive Director Lynn Peters, the Vince Lombardi
Steakhouse, the Cheyenne Sports Bar & Grill, the Vegas Lounge, the Los Compadres
Restaurant, the TDS Player's Choice Indoor Sports Park, Oneida Bingo & Casino, Mark
Miller and the Bar of Appleton.
For more information about Appleton and the Fox Cities contact, Pete Schueppert, Sports Sales Manager, Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau at 920.734.3358 (Local) or 800.236.4114 (Toll Free) or 920.734.1080 (Fax), e-mail Pete at pschueppert@foxcities.org and visit their website at www.foxcities.org.
Brett Bresnahan
NAFA Webmaster and Media Director
mnfastpitch@hotmail.com
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