NEWS - Hospitality & Tourism

By Lou Phelps, SBJ Staff  

Oct 31, 2011 – November is going to be a BIG month for the hotel motel business.  In addition to the Rock n Roll Marathon this coming weekend of Nov. 5-6, the Coastal Georgia Soccer Association (CGSA) is finalizing its plans for the 10th Annual Savannah Senior Cup College Showcases to be held in Savannah the weekends of Nov 12 -13 and Nov. 19-20.  Local hotels are racking up room reservations thanks to the thousands of kids and their families that will visit Savannah from across the U.S.   

Because of the tremendous success of the event in recent years, and the growth of the tournament, the association is now hosting the Girls and Boys College Showcase tournaments on separate weekends.

From 50 to 60 out of area teams are expected each weekend, according to Gary Wright, executive director for CGSA who also serves as the tournament director.  In 2010, the tournaments of the CGSA were acknowledged as the second largest events series for bringing in visitors to Chatham County and filling hotel rooms, according to Visit Savannah – second only to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. 

Each soccer team generally has 18 children per team plus coaches, with an average of at least two  family members per child also coming to town. “We are expecting about three thousand visitors per weekend coming in this year,” said Wright. 

The Adidas Savannah Senior Cup Girls and Boys College Showcase is geared to provide club teams a showcase environment in which college coaches from all over the country can view future college bound players, explained Wright.

The event will bring the best girls and boys players from Region III and throughout the United States to Savannah for what has become one of the Southeast's premier soccer venues to participate in a high level showcase event. Over the past 5 years there have been many players who have received college soccer scholarship offers through attending this Showcase event, he said.

The games this year for both the Girls and Boys tournaments will be played at the Jennifer Ross County Soccer Complex in Savannah. The Girls will be Nov. 12- 13, with the boys on Nov. 19-20.

The Association has partnered with Armstrong Atlantic State University and St Andrews School to utilize their first class facilities and fields for a number of the tournament games, if needed.   Five age groups will participate including U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19’s.   

The Showcase has been designed “from the ground up to give participating teams a convenient, focused, and exciting experience to aid in your players being seen by college coaches from the South Eastern region (Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia) and other parts of the country,” Wright explained.

To insure the quality of service provided at the 2011 Adidas Savannah Senior Cup Girls College Showcase Tournament, Coastal Georgia Soccer Club has partnered with THE TOURNAMENT OFFICE company of Atlanta as the official Hospitality Service of the tournament.

All teams needing accommodations are required to book hotel reservations through THE TOURNAMENT OFFICE to insure their place in the 2011 Adidas Senior Cup Girls or Boys College Showcase tournament. THE TOURNAMENT OFFICE guarantees the lowest rate available to the traveling teams.

“Our goal is to make this process efficient and friendly... while providing exceptional hotel accommodations for all teams. Most hotels are offering a continental breakfast, kid friendly services, budget conscious rates and amenities to enhance their stay,” he added.  “Each hotel is strategically located just minutes from the fields.”