| Pigeon
Forge, TN – January 2016 / Newsmaker Alert / Add volleyball
to the list of sports that have sought out the LeConte Center at Pigeon
Forge for tournament action.
Dynamic
Eventz, a tournament organizer in Mobile, Ala., has booked the LeConte
Event Center for the Smoky Mountain Blast, a two-day tournament that
could attract as many as 120 girls’ volleyball teams from at least four
states. Dates are April 2-3.
|
 “My
goal is to establish an annual event. The first year could bring from 50
to as many as 120 teams. The potential is there because the LeConte Event
Center is such a great place and because of Pigeon Forge’s appeal,” said
Valerie Pozczasy, co-founder and co-owner of Dynamic Eventz.
The tournament is for club
volleyball teams and is sanctioned by USA Volleyball, a national organization.
Club volleyball is for girls ages 10-18, and the Smoky Mountain Blast will
be for teams with girls 13 to 18 years old.
Before volleyball, the LeConte
Event Center’s 100,500-square-foot main space has attracted gymnastics,
cheer and basketball competitions. A 96-team basketball tournament in 2015
filled the space with 12 regulation-sized courts. The Smoky
Mountain Blast will install 20 volleyball courts.
“The LeConte Event Center
is ideal. I saw that huge space with a 30-foot ceiling and no support columns
and was immediately taken,” Podczasy said.
Pozczasy said an average
team has 12 players, two coaches along with several parents and siblings
who travel with the team.
“We expect this new event
will bring between 2,000 and 4,000 people to Pigeon Forge in its first
year,” said Leon Downey, executive director of the Pigeon
Forge Department of Tourism, which operates the LeConte Event Center.
“We are excited about the long-term opportunities this relationship holds
for both Pigeon Forge and Dynamic Eventz.”
Pozczasy expects most of
the tournament’s teams will be from Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama.
The LeConte Event Center
opened in late 2013 with the goal of bringing new events to Pigeon Forge
and creating lodging, attraction, restaurant and retail activity in the
city.
Pigeon Forge visitor information
is available online at MyPigeonForge.com
or by calling 800-251-9600.
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Contact:
Tom
Adkinson, APR
for Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism
615-341-8796 |
