National Sports Center Blog

Our new Sport Expo Center nearing completion

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

After a winter with great construction weather (much warmer and less snow than normal), the construction crew from Kraus-Anderson Construction has been able to move the NSC's new Sport Expo Center construction along at a breakneck pace. I stopped by today to take a look:

Below: Here's the view from the stadium. The turf is showing some mid-season form too - lush and green! (Again, thanks to our mild winter.)

The view along the south side of the building, toward the stadium field.

The new floor has been poured. This will be the new location for the PUMA World Store during Schwan's USA CUP. The high ceiling will accommodate sports use.

And just a few days ago, the glass windows were installed in the entry lobby.

We are on track to open the Sport Expo Center in early June, if not a little ahead of schedule. The Expo Center will be the new home of the NSC's two outdoor shows, the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo and the Minnesota Bass Expo in 2013, as well as other shows throughout the year.

 

 

Victory Links' new golf carts are here!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

It's a big day over at the NSC's Victory Links golf course. The first of our fleet of 76 brand new golf carts rolled off the truck today. These new carts will have some great new features that are sure to be a big hit with Victory Links golfers. Most notably, they'll cruise along at 14 m.p.h., at least 5 m.p.h faster than our old carts.

"That should take 15-20 minutes off a typical round," said head pro Scott Roth.

Head pro Scott Roth with his new toy.

Each cart comes with a bi-fold windshield, which will be a great feature on windy days. Add in bag rain covers, more comfortable seating, and an awesome candy-apple red paint job and we're expecting some big smiles on our customers' faces starting ... Saturday morning! The forecast is for perfect golf weather this weekend -- sunshine and temperatures in the 70's. So come on out to Victory Links and take one of our new carts for a test spin this weekend!

 

Fly fishing, golf and hockey - a great spring weekend at the NSC!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

We're getting set for a big weekend of spring activities and events at the NSC. In fact, as I write this, on Friday afternoon, we're already well underway.

The Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo runs from 3-7pm today, and all day Saturday and Sunday. The event is held at the Schwan Center, with some classes and clinics held outdoors.

Below: Friday morning, vendors were putting the final touches on their booths at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo.

Over at the Schwan Super Rink, the Minnesota Elite AAA hockey tournament was already underway with three days of games for both boys and girls teams. If you're reading this from a non-Minnesota location, you might be puzzled that we call hockey a spring activity here. In truth, hockey is a year-around sport for many Minnesota players. In fact some of our biggest tournaments at the Super Rink are summer tournaments. Here's some game action from rink 2:

By the way, participants in the Minnesota Elite Classic will get special admission rates to the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo. Youth will be admitted free, and adults can enter for just $5.

Then I jetted over the Victory Links golf course, where we were celebrating opening day on the big 18-hole course. We're opening a full three weeks earlier than last year, and the course conditions are close to perfect. In fact, you'll notice in these photos that the course looks close to mid-summer conditions -- and it's only March! And with warm weather in the forecast, the Victory Links staff is excited to have the course full of eager golfers this weekend.  Here are some photos to show you just how nice the course is looking:

Tournament Greens putting course:

A foursome was putting out on the 6th hole, a par 4:

 

First glimpse of the interior of the new Sport Expo Center

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Yesterday, we got our first glimpse of what the interior of the NSC's new Sport Expo Center is looking like. Construction is still underway, but the project is on track to be completed in early June.

Located just feet away from the existing Schwan Center, this 21,000 square foot facility will be large enough to house sports activity like soccer and baseball training, and also mid-size consumer shows. It will also be the new home of the PUMA World Store at Schwan's USA CUP. The reason we were allowed into a construction zone is that Evan Olesh of PUMA and the staff of Eurosport were on campus to prepare for the 2012 USA CUP. Eurosport will be the new managers of all retail sales at the tournament, including the store. This space will be new for all of us, and the early verdict is that it's going to be awesome -- more centrally located and larger than then old store location in the Sports Hall.

Below: Representatives from Eurosport check out the new location for the PUMA World Store.

Below is another view of the main room at the new Sport Expo Center. This room is 18,000 square feet. The high ceiling will accommodate sport usage.

Here's a view of the lobby area, taken from where the front doors will go on the northeast corner of the building. Restrooms will be built in the back portion of this room. The doors to the right mark the entry into the big hall.

Here's another view from the lobby area, through the entry doors, and into the main hall:

Zamboni pulling at the Super Rink!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

We stopped by the Ironman Adult Hockey Tournament Saturday afternoon to check out our newest event at the Schwan Super Rink -- the Zamboni Pull. This is a special event organized to keep the Ironman players busy during gaps between their games. I'm not sure why they need more activity, considering they'll play five games in three days, earning the "ironman" label. But for the players who showed up, they were game for the challenge and having fun too. Here's a look-in on our first Zamboni Pull:

Below: Tournament director Spencer Arvold helps the team called Off-in-the-Corner get suited up in their pulling harnesses.

Gregg Stutz from Centerville, Ben Adams of Mahtomedi and Andy Rammotz of Rochester give it their all for Off-in-the-Corner. Teams took 18-22 seconds to pull the Zamboni from blue line to blue line.

Below: Team Hat Trick, made up of Adam Knott of Otsego, Luke Molus of Becker and Adam Hayes of Big Lake.

Ellen Berce, left, and Erica Berthold represented the event sponsor, Muscle Milk. 

 

USA CUP alums playing on Japan's National Team that just beat USA

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Three former Schwan's USA CUP players were in the starting line-up for the Japan National Women's Soccer Team that beat the USA on Monday 1-0 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal. Aya Sameshima, Saki Kumagai and Asuna Tanaka all played in USA CUP for the Togiwagi Gakuen High School team from Sendai, Japan. Tokiwagi sends teams to USA CUP every three years. Togiwagi last played in the tournament in 2010, when they won both the weekend and weeklong championships of the U19 girls division.

Above: Asuna Tanaka.

Monday's win marked the first time Japan had ever beaten the U.S. in a regulation-time game. Of course, Japan defeated the U.S. in the championship game of the 2011 World Cup, but that was in an overtime penalty-kick shootout. (It was Kumagai who scored the winning PK goal in that World Cup final.)

Left: Saki Kumagai in action against Germany during the 2011 World Cup.

The Algarve Cup is an annual international tournament that this year serves as the major international tune-up for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

In the Algarve Cup championship game, completed earlier today, Germany defeated Japan 4-3, as Celia Okoyino da Mbabi scored Germany's winning goal in stoppage time. Asuna Tanaka scored in the 55th minute for Japan.

 

Left: Aya Sameshima. 

 

 

 

Check out the NSC's new sports photos!

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

The next time you're on the NSC campus, we invite you to stop by the main NSC office area to check out our new wall decorations. Last night we installed 30 new pieces of world-class photography showing the NSC campus, programs and/or athletes.

And we want all our customers to know that you're welcome to view the photos yourself. Just stop in during normal office hours, and Mary Jane Kunza, our receptionist, will be glad to assist you. It's really fun! You'll see some aerial photos of the campus, great views of some of our buildings and of course awesome action shots of USA CUP Opening Ceremony, soccer, hockey, golf, cycling, ultimate, lacrosse, rugby.

We're proud to feature the work of some of the many talented photographers who have captured NSC events over the years, including Alex Carroll, Garry Frankel, Jenny Horn, Barclay Kruse, Taylor Kruse, Lisa Lardy, Jeremy Olson, Larry Race, Greg Savino and Mike Thill.

Below: NSC Graphic Designer Amanda Planting installs a photo of Natalie Darwitz, taken when the U.S. Women's Olympic Team trained at the Schwan Super Rink prior to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

NSC staff members Clinton Labeau, Andrew Lindgren and Dave Brown check out an aerial photo taken during Schwan's USA CUP.

Three members of 2010 Women's Olympic Team nominated for Patty Kazmaier Award

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Congratulations to three former members of the 2010 Women's Olympic Hockey Team who were nominted today to be among the 10 finalists for the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Award. The award, annually bestowed upon the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey, will be presented at a brunch ceremony on March 17 at the Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth, Minn., in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Frozen Four (March 16 and 18). 

The three former Olympians are senior forward Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho/University of Wisconsin), junior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D./University of North Dakota), junior forward/defenseman Monique Lamoureux-Kolls (Grand Forks, N.D./University of North Dakota).

Hilary Knight

Jocelyne Lamoureux

 

Monique Lamoureux-Kolls

 

 

 

 

 

All three trained at the Schwan Super Rink for the year before the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

Click here to read the full story on the USA Hockey website.

The U.S. Women's National Team will next return to their training home at the National Sports Center for the annual Women's Festival in August. As three of the brightest young stars on the U.S. National Team, you'll want to come out and watch Hilary, Jocelyn and Monique show their stuff!

 

 

We want to answer your questions on NSCtv!

By Scott Clasen, Director of Marketing

We love producing NSCtv each week and giving viewers a look at the huge variety of activity at the National Sports Center and how we produce these events. We want to take it another step by asking you, our audience, to submit questions you've always wanted answered about anything we do here.

We'll pick the best questions and answer them during a future episode of NSCtv. To whet your appetite, below you'll find the latest edition of NSCtv, in case you've never seen an episode.

So, let's hear it! What's on your mind about the events and programs we conduct at the world's largest amateur sports and meeting facility?

Use the comments section below to submit your questions. In the words of Ted Knight's "Caddyshack" character Judge Smails, "we're waiting....!"

 

Taste of Blaine is the NSC's tastiest event

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer

Last night was the big Taste of Blaine at the Schwan Center. This annual event is one of the most festive -- and tasty -- events on our non-sport calendar. Over a thousand attendees tasted samples from over 35 area restaurants. Taste of Blaine is a fund-raiser for Free2B!, a local charity that provides cars and car-care assistance to help individuals and families in Anoka County Minnesota to achieve economic security and self-sufficiency by supporting them in their transportation needs.

At the NSC, we love hosting this event. First, Free2B! is a unique charity that has identified a key area that low-income families need to hold jobs and become self-sufficient -- reliable transportation. We also love Taste because it's one of those unusual events that draws a lot of people who otherwise haven't visited our campus before. (In other words, we love to show off, especially to new customers!)

Here are some shots from Taste of Blaine 2012:

Below: Tim Cary, of the Tavern in Blaine, shows off salad samples.

Pepe Lusarreta and Cary Kemmerer of Chili's in Blaine:

NSC video producer Jake Frantzen interview Free2B!'s executive director Gary Levine for an upcoming episode of NSCtv.

Brian Lang, of Buffalo Wild Wings in Blaine, proudly serves up some ... wings!