SportsEvents is edited for those who plan tournaments or other sports events.
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August 2014 42 www.sportseventsmagazine.com wonder major events like CheerSport and the SEC Football Championship have been held here. Hotel rooms: 93,000 Major facilities: Turner Field is a 49,586-seat baseball park. The Georgia Dome is a 102,000- square-foot, multi-sport venue that can seat more than 70,000. The 690,000- square-foot Philips Arena can seat more than 18,000 for basketball games. Convention center: The Georgia World Congress Center, the fourth largest convention center in the country, offers 3.9 million square feet of total space, including 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space. The center, which has hosted events like the ACC Basketball Championship and NCAA Men's Final Four, is part of a three-facility campus that also includes Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia Dome. East Point: With the downtown Atlanta skyline as a backdrop, East Point offers a mix of traditional neighbor- hoods, a walkable downtown and easy access to the attractions, dining and shopping of Atlanta. Hotels near the Atlanta airport offer a home base with amenities that include meeting space, shuttle service, motor-coach parking and proximity to the Georgia International Convention Center. Contact: Atlanta CVB, www.atlanta.net. Augusta Augusta might be famous for hosting the Masters golf tournament, but the city welcomes numerous other sporting events as well. The eastern Georgia city is the headquarters of the Professional Disc Golf Association and the Atlantic Coast Cutting Horse Association and home to the IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta, the largest 70.3 in North America. Other sports hosted here include rowing, basketball, cycling and running. Hotel rooms: 7,000 Major facilities: James Brown Arena is an 8,500-seat, multi-purpose venue. The 4,400-seat Lake Olmstead Stadium is a Minor League baseball park. Convention center: Opened in February 2013, the Augusta Convention Center offers 100,000 square feet of space and hosts sports such as boxing, volleyball, karate and taekwondo. Contact: Augusta Sports Council, www.augustasportscouncil.org. Cobb County Just 10 minutes from downtown Atlanta is Cobb County. The county, which is com- posed of numerous cities, including Marietta, Vinings and Smyrna, boasts venues for events large and small. Hotel rooms: 13,000+ Major facilities: McEachern High School Health Physical Education & Wellness Center contains 117,000 square feet of Mondo flooring and three basket- ball/volleyball courts and is connected to a 12,500-seat football field, an eight-lane track and two additional fields that can be used for other field sports. Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University has permanent seating for 8,300 with total capacity exceeding 10,000 and features seven competition fields, a practice facility, an NCAA regulation track, sand volleyball courts, a nine-acre lake and a one-mile walking trail. Southern Polytechnic State University offers a main gym, auxiliary gym, soccer field, baseball field and four basketball courts. Aviation Sports Complex sits on 8.5 acres and includes three fields and a 5,000-square-foot indoor training facility. Lost Mountain Park houses the Ward Recreation Center, the Lost Mountain Tennis Center—which boasts 12 courts— and the West Cobb Senior Center, as well as eight softball fields, a baseball field, two football/soccer fields, two fishing ponds and walking tracks. Convention center: The Cobb Galleria Centre offers 320,000 square feet of space and has hosted sports like taekwondo, soc- cer and volleyball. Contact: Cobb Travel & Tourism www.travelcobb.org. Columbia County Columbia County is situated in eastern Georgia near Augusta. The county, which recently opened a new 47,000-square-foot exhibition center, hosts events such as the NCAA Division II Soccer National Championships, the AAU Cross Country National Championships and the NCAA's Peach Belt Conference Cross Country and Soccer Championships. Hotel rooms: 900 ➤ In 2017, Atlanta will add two new state- of-the-art sports facilities to its roster. The Atlanta Stadium will be a $1.2 billion multi-purpose facility with a retractable roof. The new Braves Stadium is moving 10 miles from downtown and will be surrounded by a massive entertain- ment complex. COMING SOON S I T E S E L E C T I O N G U I D E ▼ Swimming events will find a home in Columbus at the Aquatic Center.