USA Table Tennis announced today the selection of Cary, North Carolina, as the host city for the 2012 U.S. and North American Table Tennis Olympic Trials. The U.S. Olympic Trials will be held February 8-12, 2012, with the top finishers qualifying for the North American Olympic Trials. The North American Olympic Trials will be held from April 18-22, with the top finishers earning a spot on the 2012 Olympic Team.
Bond Park Community Center in Cary will serve as the host venue for both Trials events. Town of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht welcomed the selection. "The Town of Cary is thrilled to add its first Olympic Trials to our fine sports resume. We look forward to hosting these outstanding athletes as they compete to earn a spot on the Olympic team that will represent our country at the 2012 Olympic Games in London."
The events will be co-hosted by the Town of Cary, Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Cary Table Tennis Association and the Triangle Sports Commission.
Scott Dupree, Vice President for Sports Marketing for the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau said, "The U.S. Table Tennis Olympic Trials is yet another signature sporting event for the Town of Cary and strengthens the Town’s growing reputation as a superb amateur sports destination. The Trials are sure to bring plenty of national and international attention to Cary and the entire region."
Hill Carrow, CEO of the Triangle Sports Commission, sees Cary’s first Olympic Trials as a stepping stone for sports tourism in the Triangle. "The Triangle region has a proven track record of hosting major sporting events, and for USA Table Tennis to recognize and reward the region with their premier event is a great boost for the entire area."
The two five-day events will attract the top table tennis players in North America to Cary. The U.S. Olympic Trials will feature the country’s top players as they attempt to qualify for the North American Olympic Trials. At the North American Olympic Trials, the top finishers from the U.S. and Canadian Olympic Trials will square off to represent their countries and earn North America’s slots at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
"We are thrilled to bring our marquee event to North Carolina for the first time," said Mike Cavanaugh, CEO of USA Table Tennis. "Cary has proven itself as an excellent host for our sport with 10 years of the very successful Cary Cup. Several of our national team members have played in the Cup and praised the event. Of course dating back to my own participation in the U.S. Olympic Festival in the Triangle in 1987, the region has demonstrated its organization of, and love for, Olympic sports, and that factored into our decision as well."
About USA Table Tennis
USATT is the national organizing body for table tennis in the United States. Created in 1933 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, its staff serves the 9000+ members and 285+ clubs that are affiliated with USATT. It oversees a wide variety of membership services, the national teams, and other areas such as the rules of the game, and numerous online instructional and historical articles. It is governed and run by the 9 members of the board of directors, numerous committees, and paid staff. USATT is affiliated with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the world governing body for table tennis, as well as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
About the Town of Cary
The Town of Cary is a thriving community in the heart of the Triangle area of North Carolina, between Raleigh and renowned Research Triangle Park. Cary, with a population of around 143,000, has ranked among the top regions in the country to live or work, to find a home or start a business, to raise a family or retire. The Town is a designated North Carolina Fit Community and was selected by the NCAA to serve as one of the inaugural members in its "NCAA Championship City" pilot program, annually hosting NCAA Division I, II, and III men’s and women’s championships through the year 2012. This year, Cary became the home of a Continental Basketball League’s team, Cary Invasion. For more on recreation in Cary, visit www.townofcary.org.
About the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, as the official destination marketing organization of Raleigh and Wake County, accelerates sustainable economic growth and development by increasing visitor, sports and convention business. For more information on the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau sports marketing department, please visit www.raleighsports.org.
About the Triangle Sports Commission
Incorporated in 2001, the Triangle Sports Commission is a North Carolina charitable non-profit organization and an all-volunteer sports commission serving the Triangle region. The TSC led the Triangle's recruitment effort for the relocation of USA Baseball from Arizona that resulted in USA Baseball’s new headquarters at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and their National Training Complex at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary. In 2008, the TSC hosted the Lenovo Olympic Celebration featuring 31 Olympic athletes, where Jim Scherr, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, announced the TSC as the USOC’s newest Community Olympic Partner. In 2009, U.S .Masters Swimming selected the Triangle Sports Commission to host its annual High Performance Camp and named the TSC an Official Community Partner. For more information on the Triangle Sports Commission, visit www.trianglesportscommission.com.
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