Chesapeake Boathouse Names New Programs Director
OKLAHOMA CITY—The Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation has named Matt Woodson director of canoe/kayak programs at Chesapeake Boathouse. Woodson will be responsible for developing recreational and competitive kayak programs for youth and adults and for expanding the boathouse’s dragon-boating program. He will also oversee a youth kayaking program, new flatwater and whitewater kayak classes, and a dragon-boating program for cancer survivors.

Woodson has been a kayak instructor at Chesapeake Boathouse for two years; he also is an instructor for the American Canoe Association.

Schwinn To Sponsor Team In Training
MADISON, Wisc.—Schwinn Bicycles has agreed to be the national bicycle sponsor of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, the “world’s largest endurance sports training and fundraising program.” Schwinn is the society’s first national bicycle sponsor.

Schwinn, owned by Dorel Industries, will provide cycling information, bicycle demos, on-site event support and product discounts to the 39,000 cycling, triathlon and marathon participants who train and fundraise through the society’s team in training each year. The society’s team in training, now entering its 20th year, has raised more than $850 million.

The team in training program provides coaching to support participants of century rides, triathlons and marathons.

Renovations Planned For Hancock Stadium
NORMAL, Ill.—The Illinois State University Board of Trustees has authorized $1.5 million for planning and design of renovations to Hancock Stadium. Renovations would include updating the east side of the stadium, metal bleachers, press box and suites. The project is still in the early planning and approval stages, but is estimated at $10 million.

Softball Stadium Planned At Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—Construction of a 1,000-seat softball stadium at Penn State University is expected to begin in November and end in March 2010. The stadium, contracted by L. Robert Kimball & Associates, is estimated at $5 million-$25 million.

USA Water Polo Partners With Positive Coaching Alliance
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—USA Water Polo has formed a national partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) to provide USA Water Polo’s organizational leaders, coaches, parents and high school athletes with PCA’s live group workshops and other services. Under the partnership, PCA also will host a free webinar to educate USA Water Polo member clubs and leagues on creating a positive culture and make PCA coaching and parenting articles available for inclusion in USA Water Polo’s magazine, website and other publications. In exchange, USA Water Polo will include PCA resources and materials in its distributed materials. pull logo from website

Network Offers Access To Athletes
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—The Athlete Speaker’s Referral Network, offered through the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), provides companies and individuals with access to the USOC database of more than 200 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and others associated with the Olympic Movement who are available for speaking engagements and appearances. Track and Field Olympian Bruce Jenner, Swimming Olympian Mark Spitz and Figure Skating Olympian Nancy Kerrigan are among the athletes already registered.

The database can be viewed in its entirety or searched by name, location, sport, topic, fee and Olympic status at www.usolympicteam.com.

USFS Selects Sponsorship Agency
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—U.S. Figure Skating (USFS) has entered a multi-year partnership with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment (Van Wagner) to act as the organization’s sponsorship and media sales agency.

Van Wagner will assist USFS with the sale of its NBC TV media, event entitlement, in-arena and on-air signage, grassroots programs and icenetwork.com broadband assets. The deal also allows Van Wagner to partner with USFS on future assets. In addition, USFS and Van Wagner will develop 360-degree integrated packages that will provide complete solutions to partners and enable USFS to provide athlete support and continue to grow the sport of figure skating.

MasterCraft Boats To Sponsor USA Water Ski Championships
POLK CITY, Fla.—USA Water Ski has announced that MasterCraft Boat Co. will sponsor six professional water ski events of the MasterCraft Pro Water Ski Tour. The tour will begin May 30 in Talking Rock, Ga., and culminate Sept. 13 at the U.S. Open Water Ski Championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

The six tour events will replace the traditional qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open and will include slalom, jumping, tricks and overall competition categories.

USTA Offers Interactive Website For High School Coaches
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) has developed an interactive website for coaches registered in USTA’s No-Cut program, which encourages high school tennis participation by allowing all kids who try out to play.

The website, www.usta.com/no-cut, provides access to an interactive community where nearly 1,800 high school coaches can share tips, success stories and challenges as they continue their pledge to offer all high school students an opportunity to play tennis. Coaches also will receive updates, guidance and resources from the No-Cut Coaches Advisory Team on how to maximize their respective programs and overcome the challenges of working with large teams.
Registered coaches also will have direct access and links to other USTA programs, including coaches workshops and training sessions. tennis clip art

USBC Announces New Staff, Relocation
GREENDALE, Wisc.—The U.S. Bowling Congress (USBC) has named Neil Stremmel as National Governing Body vice president and Jim Oberholtzer as technology vice president.

Stremmel most recently served as technical director for USBC. In his new role, Stremmel will oversee USBC operations in equipment specifications, Team USA, USBC Coaching, USBC Sport Bowling, USBC High School, USBC Collegiate and rules. A lifetime bowler, he recently was named co-chair of the World Tenpin Bowling Association Technical and Coaching Committee.

Oberholtzer will be responsible for four USBC IT-related areas, including data center/technical support, applications development, customer systems and website development. Before being hired by USBC, he directed an outside audit of USBC’s IT operations while working for Logicalis of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

In other USBC news, the organization has accepted a $693,000 award from Texas Enterprise Fund to move its headquarters to Arlington, Texas. The move likely would include an International Bowling Campus that would house the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America (BPAA) and a 12- to 16-lane combined equipment testing and international training center. BPAA has pledged to pay for half of the complex.