Dew Action Sports Tour starts busy fall sports season

This month brings us the kickoff of the football and soccer season and the return of the Dew Action Sports Tour competition at HP Pavilion. Scheduled for this weekend, the tour features the best athletes in the world in BMX, skateboarding and motocross competing through Sunday. Los Gatos native Ryan Nyquist is a BMX headliner. It should be a terrific four days of sports action and concerts surrounded by a fun-filled festival.  Come on down – bring your son or daughter or a grandchild and experience exciting sports and entertainment for all ages.

Hope to see you there.

Dean Munro
Executive Director

Four days of wheeled action – skateboards (vert and park), BMX (park, vert and dirt) and FMX – takes over HP Pavilion through Sunday when the Toyota Challenge event on the Dew Action Sports Tour arrives in San Jose.

Last year’s event was a huge success drawing the Bay Area’s action sports fans to see the skateboard and cycling competitions on specially designed ramps and courses inside the arena and outdoors in the parking area.

NBC Sports will telecast 4½ hours of coverage Saturday and Sunday supplemented by the USA Network, Universal HD and Fox Sports Radio on Friday and Saturday on this schedule.

The Sports Authority created an 11-member “street team” to help market the Dew Action Sports Tour composed of local college students who attended weekend events, visited schools and skate parks, and worked with local businesses and the city’s parks and recreation department to spread the word about the event.

Dean Munro, executive director of the Sports Authority, and Jim Goddard, general manager of HP Pavilion, received the flag from last month’s USA Gymnastics’ Visa Championships in St. Paul, Minn., beginning the formal preparations for hosting that sport’s national championship in San Jose next August.

They were part of an 11-member delegation in St. Paul to consult with USA Gymnastics officials on marketing plans and observe operations. The Visa Championships come to San Jose on Aug. 15-18, 2007 and will be a key preparatory meet for the athletes who represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games one year later.

San Jose will become the running capital of California next month when two important races – the Rock ’n’ Roll ½ Marathon and the Metro Silicon Valley Marathon – take to city streets.

The Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon, which starts and finishes downtown on Sunday, Oct. 8, will be preceded by a two-day Health & Fitness Expo at the McEnery Convention Center and concludes with an HP Pavilion concert featuring the Bay Area-based rock band Train.

The Metro Silicon Valley Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 29, includes a marathon, half-marathon, 5K run/walk, kids races and Sports Tech Expo. All races begin downtown. The marathon and half-marathon run along the Los Gatos Creek Trail to Los Gatos with the longer race returning the same route. Bus transportation for half-marathoners will be provided back to the start at Park and Almaden.

Dean Munro, executive director of the Sports Authority, will be attending the Oct. 11-14 TEAMS 2006 Travel, Events and Management in Sports conference in Las Vegas. The conference is a networking meeting for those in the sports event industry and an opportunity to learn about new strategies and techniques in attracting and financing sports events. Munro will be meeting with a variety of Olympic governing body and college sports representatives.