Pigeon
Forge, TN – January 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / The Neon Extreme
National Championships, a cheer competition that is part of the CXE GLOW
TOUR, will showcase all-star, recreational, scholastic and collegiate talent
in a competition that could bring as many as 9,000 visitors to Pigeon
Forge this spring.
|
 The
event, an expansion project for CXE Cheer in New Market, Md., will be at
the LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge
on March 7-8, 2015.
Competitive cheerleading
combines cheer, gymnastics, dance and acrobatics into routines that last
2 minutes and 30 seconds.
CXE Cheer owner Tony Bennett
anticipates up to 120 competitive teams accounting for 2,500 to 3,000 athletes,
plus 5,000 to 6,000 family members and other spectators. Most competitors’
ages will range from 5-18, while there will be some college-age participants.
“There’s an always-entertaining
parent division, too,” Bennett said.
Neon Extreme National Championships
will be one of 10 CXE Cheer events in 2015 and the only one lasting two
days. It is the first CXE event to offer more than $40,000 in cash prizes.
Participants come from all
over the U.S. for CXE Cheer competitions, which usually are in arenas,
convention center and college athletic facilities.
Bennett said he received
an unsolicited overture from the LeConte Event Center and was intrigued
enough to take a look.
“I loved the facility, but
I didn’t know what to expect in the community before getting to town. I’d
never been to Pigeon Forge,” he said, explaining that restaurants, attractions
and activities for everyone who attends CXE Cheer event are vital to success.
“The instant I drove into
town and saw all that is here, I said, ‘This is the place. This makes 100
percent sense,’” Bennett said.
The LeConte Event Center
opened in October 2013. It was the site of more than two dozen tradeshows,
consumer shows, assemblies and athletic events in its first year, with
a total attendance of more than 250,000 people. Its biggest event was the
National Quartet Convention last September, which featured multiple nights
of full-house concerts.
Its first athletic event,
the Make It Count Gymnastics Classic, drew approximately 800 gymnasts and
hundreds more family members and spectators last February. That event returns
Feb. 14-16, 2015.
Neon Extreme National Championships
will fill the 100,500-square-foot LeConte Hall, the primary space of the
232,000-square-foot facility. The Pigeon
Forge Department of Tourism operates the LeConte Event Center.
Details about the LeConte
Event Center are at LeConteCenter.com,
and information about visiting Pigeon Forge is at MyPigeonForge.com.
|
Media Contact:
Tom
Adkinson, APR
for Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism
615-341-8796 |
