Press
2005 Year in Review
Thursday, September 8, 2005
This year the Utah Summer Games celebrated its 20th anniversary: two decades of athletic triumphs, personal achievement and Raising the Bar. Much was done to commemorate and ensure the success of this year’s Games.
In 2005, for the first time ever, online registration was opened in January. Trying to appeal to those who were setting their New Year’s Resolutions, we made registration available four months earlier than it has been in the past. We thought that if we could give people a reason to train, or a goal to shoot for, we could not only increase our participation, but also help people keep those elusive goals. Over all, the result was very positive, with over 1,000 athletes registering before the first of April.
In an effort to increase our reach and ultimately help with the childhood obesity challenge our state and nation are facing, the Utah Summer Games launched the “USG Kids” section on our website. To kick off the launch, we sponsored a coloring contest for children ages 0 to 12 with a $50 U.S. Savings bond as the prize for four different age divisions. Over 300 children from around the state participated in the coloring contest.
Hosts of the USG Kids website are two friendly mascots, Saylor Rae McSquirrel, a red-furred squirrel, and L. Walter “Wally” Wolverton III, a silver-furred wolf. The two represent the diverse landscapes of the beautiful red mountains of Southern Utah and the granite peaks of the Wasatch front. These two characters have become a popular addition among children at the Games.
At the Utah Summer Games, we are concerned with the overall health of our state and see our role as expanding to help ensure the residents are enjoying a healthy active lifestyle. This year, we partnered with KUTV2 and the Check Your Health Partners to create the Get Active Utah Fitness Challenge. The Challenge encouraged people to get engaged in some kind of physical activity, whether it was walking, cycling, swimming or another physical activity then log the miles walked or the equivalent on the utahwalks.org web site. Recognition was given at the Utah Summer Games Opening Ceremony for the Cities, walking group, school and individual who logged the most miles. Over 2,200 Utahan’s participated and over 2,062,000 miles were logged.
The Utah Summer Games marketing efforts were expanded this year to include more opportunities to get the word out than ever before. We took advantage of print, radio, outdoor and television this year in an effort to invite every amateur athlete in the state that wanted to participate. We went to great efforts to ensure consistency throughout the advertising campaign, to create branding.
We also launched several upgrades to our website and online registration system. This year, for the first year ever, data migrated from one year to the next. In other words, if an athlete registered online in 2004, that data automatically loaded into the fields for their 2005 registration, making the process easier than ever. This year, over 61% of our athletes registered online.
Our internet site is an important resource of information and interaction for the athletes. This year we created several opportunities for our athletes to provide feedback and make suggestions. From January to June, we offered three separate surveys where athletes could vote on certain elements to be included in the 2005 Opening Ceremonies. We also created online forums where athletes could interact one with another, share tips, and request information.
Understanding that word of mouth advertising the best way to spread the word, we developed the “Score Some Points” program. Every athlete who registered online received a Referral Code that could be shared with family and friends. When an athlete registered with that referral code, both the referrer and the referee were awarded points. These points could then be redeemed for Utah Summer Games merchandise in the online store. Over 43,130 points were awarded this year, making the program a success that we plan to expand in upcoming years.
It was important that our Opening Ceremonies for the 20th anniversary Utah Summer Games reflected the type of celebration that should mark 20 years, and this year it definitely did. The theme for the evening was “Back to the Future” and included a look back at some of the significant events of the past 20 years through history, music and films, including a special visit by Dr. Emmet Brown and his Delorean time machine.
Several honors were given out this year; include Hall of Honor Inductions for University of Utah Football Coach, Kyle Whittingham, Hall of Fame Volleyball Coach, Joann Reeve, The Spectrum Sports Writer, Gary Webb, and the voice of the Utah Jazz, “Hot Rod” Hundley.” In addition, the winners of the Get Active Utah Fitness Challenge were recognized, along with the Utah Jazz Bear for his consistent support of the Utah Summer Games.
Entertainment for the evening was provided by county music superstar, Colin Raye. Raye provided two different sets of live music for the athletes and their families to enjoy, the first a set of covers of some of the biggest hits of the past 20 years. His second, and longer set, was of his own award winning music.
The fireworks show, an anticipated staple of the Utah Summer Games Opening Ceremonies, was the biggest ever with over 17 minutes of fireworks set to the biggest musical hits of the past two decades interspersed with audio clips of historical events and memorable films. The Utah Summer Games cauldron was lit by former and Current Hall of Honor Inductees, spanning the past twenty years.
In all, well over 15,000 people were in attendance for the 20th Anniversary Opening Ceremonies Celebration, one of the biggest crowds ever assembled in the Eccles Coliseum on the campus of Southern Utah University.
In 2005, the Utah Summer Games offered 54 different sports for amateur athletes of all ages and skill levels from around the entire state. Due to lack of participation in Boxing and Boys Gymnastics, 52 of these were eventually held.
Nine new sports were added this year, including an Archery Biathlon, Cowboy Action Shooting, Judo, Kayaking, Power Lifting, Water Polo, Skateboarding, Paintball, and Adult 3 on 3 Soccer.
Several of the sports experienced a significant increase in participation. Basketball grew by 43% with a total of 108 teams competing. Karate had an increase of 36% with more schools competing than in years past. The Triathlon experienced an 83% increase in participation and Racquetball had the largest percentage increase with 135%.
Perhaps the biggest of the story of the year was Soccer. For the past several years, soccer has grown into the largest single event in the Utah Summer Games and this year was no exception. Nearly 3,200 athletes from all around the state converged in participated in 200 teams for this year’s soccer tournament, a record for the Utah Summer Games and the largest soccer tournament in the entire state.
Three athletes shared the distinction of being the youngest athletes this year, Emma Palmer, Cross Country, Cameron Miner, Equestrian Show and Brek Sanderson, Barrels and Poles all competed at the ripe old age of three years old.
As for the most senior athletes, three gentlemen shared that distinction as well; Roy Cox, Trap Shooting, LaVoid Leavitt, Cycling and Gerald Budd, Track and Field has been around to each see their 86th Birthday.
This year, the Utah Summer Games awarded a new style of gold, silver and bronze medal. This larger, square-shaped, color-added medal was very popular for the athletes. In all, 2900 Gold, 2150 Silver and 1700 Bronze individual medals were awarded to Utah Summer Games champions.
The Utah Summer Games, in an effort to Raise the Bar, is already preparing for the 2006 season and anticipates another great year.
Labels: History
