FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Devin Avery
(954) 592-6678
Email-davery@sfeconomic.org
[b]MIAMI LAUNCHES TEAM HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CUP WITH TOURNAMENT SELECTION DRAW[/b]
Miami, FL- On Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 10:00am, District 12 – Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Chairman, Miami-Dade Sports Commission, the New World Sports Enterprises, The Miami Sharks, South Florida Economic Foundation, and Ligue Nationale de Handball (French National Handball League) will hold a press conference to launch the promotion of 2009 South Florida Coupe De La Ligue in Miami, Final Four Championship Cup, with a TEAM HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SELECTION DRAW at Bayside Marketplace, 401 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL .
The 2009 South Florida Coupe De La Ligue event will be held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, with two Semi-Final Games at 12 and 5 p.m., Friday, April 10th and the Championship Game, Saturday, April 11th, 2009. In addition, there will be the World All-Star Exhibition Game featuring legendary Team Handball great Jackson Richardson, who will be joined by international players from France, China, Tunis, Algeria, Egypt, Chile, Argentina and others.
Coupe de la Ligue is a unique event in the World of the Olympic sport called Team Handball (in USA, for the rest of the World is Handball), first of its kind, where a professional League, Ligue National de Handball, LNH, has their official event outside the national borders. The world’s best players and Olympic and World Championship gold medalist from Paris, Chambrey, Istres and Montpellier compete for their place in history. .
Team Handball is one of the world's most popular sports today. Handball has been an official Olympic Sport since 1936. It is played in over 160 countries wi th more than 30 million players and officials from Little League to the Professional Ranks. The 2008 Men’s European Championship set an impressive record of 1.2 billion viewers in over 160 countries. The 2006 Women’s and Men’s European Championship was also substantial with a viewing audience of over 1 billion.
“Team Handball can be traced back to ancient Africa, Greece, Rome, and medieval France. It is the second most watched and viewed sport in the world following soccer. It is a fast-paced game involving two teams of seven players each (six players and a goalkeeper) pass and bounce a ball to throw it into the goal of the opposing team. The team with the most goals after two periods of 30 minutes wins” – A.C.Tellison, Jr., New World, C.E.O., NFL Pro , 1994 All-Big East wide receiver at the University of Miami and a member of 1991 National Championship team.
“We are excited to host athletes and businesses from France and other countries in South Florida, sports and recreation activities provide a $32 billion annual economic impact to Florida’s economy as well as the world. It also provides support for 434,000 employment positions=2 0and generates $12.9 billion in annual labor compensation”.-Devin Avery, Founder/President South Florida Economic Foundation
Other sanctioned events include:
April 7 & 8, 2009- First Annual Sports and Business Conference
The South Florida Economic Foundation will present the First Annual Sports and Business Conference at the Hotel Intercontinental Miami.
The Conference for Sports, Gaming, Fitness and Recreation Professionals, will offer the latest information on building, operating, marketing, programming and staffing your fitness, recreation and sports facilities, sports media programming and distribution, technology, wireless distribution, gaming and fantasy sports, with consultants i.e. sports law, medicine, manufacturers, suppliers, architects, celebrity spokespersons, seminars and workshops, keynote speakers.
2009 World Sports, Games and Traditions Festival
Festival is a free family event which will promote health, fitness and athletic participation, international games traditions, sports and recreation, sports education, jobs and careers, fantasy sports, water sports, local and national sports and sporting goods vendors. Each country represented will have a village hosted by the South Florida Consular Corps of South Florida and Bi-national Chamber of Commerce with music, food, wine and beer from each country.
In addition, there will be a special sports and games for kids area with sports clinics in golf, baseball, football, hockey, soccer and basketball by favorite sports celebrities, “game-on” face painting, appearances by team mascots, award winning cheerleaders and dance teams, international field-day game masters, inflatable sports arena- volley ball, basketball, soccer, slam dunk competition, touch-down bungee run, obstacle courses, rock-climbing and more!
The festival will also serve as a vehicle to promote summer sports, recreation and fitness programs at Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County Parks, and City of Miami Parks, and youth oriented facilities throughout South Florida,
For information, tickets, vendor, exhibitor, volunteer and sponsor information call Tel: (305)785-1686- email: Festival@newworldsports.us
www.newworldsports.com