Louisville to Host AAU Basketball Championships
Posted On: December 17, 2013 By :Louisville, Kentucky, has been awarded the 2014–2016 Amateur Athletic Union 10–12 Division I National Basketball Championships and Gold Super Showcases—the elite AAU boy’s basketball competition. The events will be held at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
“Louisville is a perfect location for the AAU Boys Basketball Division I National Championships and Super Showcases for so many reasons,” AAU President Henry Forrest said. “We will be in the heart of basketball country where there is tremendous fan avidity and enormous media interest in the sport. Louisville is centrally located in the U.S. and easy to reach for a large number of our teams and their families, fans and college coaches; and the Kentucky Exposition Center is a premiere, event-friendly facility located in close proximity to hotels, inter-state highways and the airport.”
“Besides location and facilities, another reason we’re coming to Louisville is the experience and cooperation of our partners in the local community,” added Forrest. “We are working closely with the management teams from the KEC, the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau and Louisville Sports Commission, all experts in staging major events. In addition, we forged a tremendous partnership with Eddie Ford, one of the longtime, premiere promoters of youth basketball in the Midwest and South.”
Ford, owner and operator of the 31-year-old Kentucky HoopFest, the nation’s travel team basketball tournament held annually at KEC, will provide 12 hardwood courts as well as his expertise and operational support for the AAU event.
“Hosting the AAU Boys Basketball National Championships and Showcases is a huge win for Louisville,” said Louisville Sports Commission Executive Director Karl Schmitt said. “Sports fans in the local community and the region will have a chance to watch the best high school basketball players in the nation every summer. Additionally, the event will generate more than 8,400 hotel room night stays every year, and attract significant media, high profile coaches and sports personalities to our town. We look forward to the opportunity.”
The 2014 AAU Boy’s Basketball National Championships is expected to attract 340 teams, 200 officials, more than 900 college coaches and is expected to generate an estimated $3 million in annual economic impact.
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