Proud moment for Everett
Published 3:55 pm Thursday, March 15, 2012
While it’s March Madness elsewhere in the sports world, here in Everett we are also madly doing cartwheels and back handsprings over the start of the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships at Comcast Arena today.
The competition is the sport’s premiere event leading up to the Olympic Games in London this summer, and will be the largest international gymnastics event held in Washington since the 1990 Goodwill Games, according to USA Gymnastics, the governing body for the sport in the United States.
The Pacific Rim Championships started in 2004 and are held every two years. Everett joins Honolulu (2004 and 2006), San Jose (2008) and Melbourne, Australia (2010), as a host city for the event. Which is all-around great company to be keeping.
Everett proved its hosting chops with the 2008 international Skate America competition at Comcast Arena. A visit during that event helped solidify that Everett was the right home for a big gymnastics event, said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. The arena was up to the Skate America task, and so was the community, Penny said.
Everett and Snohomish County welcome more than 200 gymnasts, from 17 countries — Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, and of course, the United States.
Using the entire facility, the men’s and women’s gymnastics will be held in the Comcast Arena, with rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline at the Comcast Community Ice Rink. Beyond the arena, community partners range from Everett Community College to the Tulalip Resort Casino. (USA Gymnastics’ slogan is “Begin Here. Go Anywhere.” Which meshes nicely with EvCC’s “Stay Close … Go Far.”)
The three-day event is expected to generate around $2.5 million in tourism during what otherwise is a slow time of year, Wendy Becker, the county’s economic and cultural development director, said in September. TV coverage by NBC on Saturday, and the presence of international media, will bring welcome attention to Everett and Snohomish County. Gymnastics USA has already posted photos and video of athletes warming up at the arena (usagym.org).
It’s an exciting time for the community, the athletes and gymnastics fans. The presence of many gymnastic clubs in the region was another factor in choosing Everett as the host city. Many fans in the stands will have vested interest in the outcomes; a gifted few could even be competing at the championship level two years from now.
Everett and Snohomish County are proud to host such a prestigious and entertaining sporting event. Let’s all stick the landing together.
