Category: Uncategorized

Sports Coast Hoping For Tourism Reboot

To use a sports metaphor, you might say that the Florida Sports Coast, from the moment it was created as Pasco County’s new tourism “brand” in 2018, jumped out to a huge lead, outscored the opponent, boasted a deep bench and an impressive farm system and was on top of the world.

Then, it was as though every single player got injured.

That pretty much describes Pasco County’s tourism in the era of Covid-19.

But, players heal from injuries and so, too, is the Florida Sports Coast ready to get back on the field. Despite rising numbers of positive cases of the virus in June, Pasco County tourism director Adam Thomas has been eyeing July as a launching point for a major comeback.

“July will be big,” Thomas says.

The Tohrs Roller Hockey National Championships accounted for 1,800 hotel room nights in 2019, although those numbers were expected to be down in the current Covid-19 environment. The tournament was held last week at AdventHealth Center Ice; according to the event’s schedule posted online, roughly 130 teams competed.

On the leisure tourism side, scalloping season (July 17-26) is one of the county’s more popular events. Thomas says more than 300,000 people took part or were impacted by the bay scallop season last year.

“People look forward to that,” he says. “It’s a seasonal activity. And, you can practice social distancing in the water. It’s a fun, family activity…like a great underwater Easter egg hunt.”

This will be the third season for scalloping in the county. In 2018, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) finally granted Pasco County an annual scallop season following a 25-year hiatus.

Participants can collect up to two gallons of the bay scallops per day. There are a number of areas on the west coast of the county from which to collect them, from Anclote Village Marina to Hudson Beach Marina, as well as a number of local fishing guides who will be happy to help you catch your limit.

Thomas is hoping both events can begin the reboot of what was expected to be a record-setting year for tourism in Pasco.

In late March, hotel occupancy dropped to 18-20 percent, and is only now back up to around 44 percent. In April of 2019, the county pulled in $430,000 worth of tourist tax revenue, compared to just $93,000 this past April, which is typically Pasco’s biggest tourism month.

The county and private facilities like AdventHealth Center Ice, had to cancel a number of events that typically fill local hotel rooms, like the 2020 Adult Men’s and Women’s National Ice Hockey Championships on back-to-back weekends in April.

“It impacted our revenue stream greatly,” Thomas says.

The county was projected to pull in $3.2 million in tourist tax dollars in 2020, which Thomas says would have been the largest total ever. And, Pasco’s tourism was on pace to hit a number of historical marks.

“In a matter of three months, we went back three-and-a-half years,” says Thomas, who adds that a full recovery could take 20-24 months.

There was some good news —while many events were outright canceled, 13 events have been rescheduled or postponed to a later date.

The county has launched a Get Back To Adventure recovery marketing plan, hoping it encourages people to visit and leave their homes.

“We’re now seeing additional booking that is going to increase our economic impact and demand for visitor and consumers alike to come and enjoy what our destination has to offer,” he says.

For more information about scallop season and other tourism plans, visit FlSportsCoast.com.

scalloping

Pasco EDC To Open Business Incubator In The Grove!

Bill Cronin says that when some people first hear the word “incubator,” they usually think of young chicks being hatched and raised in a confined environment.

That’s not exactly what the new incubator coming to The Grove in the fall is, however.

“The funny thing is, it’s not too far off from the truth,” jokes Cronin, who is the CEO of the Pasco County Economic Development Council (EDC).

Instead of eggs and chicks, though, the SMARTstart Entrepreneur Center and Business Incubator, operated by the Pasco EDC through its SMARTstart Small Business Program, hopes to take business start-up ideas and nurture them into successful enterprises that grow into companies that will stay in Pasco County and bring investment and jobs to the community.

SMARTstart is funded by the Penny for Pasco program.

The Wesley Chapel location will be the third incubator in Pasco County, joining locations in New Port Richey, which focuses on professional services, and one in Dade City that is focused on food innovation.

“They are all looking to build healthy businesses,” Cronin says. “Our goal is to help them become scalable, healthy and strong companies, and that they grow from there.”

The Dade City location, which opened in February, was previously located downtown, but Cronin said so many companies were graduating and then moving back to Wesley Chapel and Cronin says, “it was very clear we needed something in the Wesley Chapel area because that’s the area the demand was coming from.”

So, the Dade City incubator partnered with the University of Florida Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences Extension and is now an incubator kitchen, and Wesley Chapel is getting its own Business Incubator.

“We are extremely excited to be able to offer our area’s entrepreneurs a place within striking distance to all that our county and region has to offer,” says Dan Mitchell, the EDC’s SMARTstart program director. “This third center will continue to allow our start-ups to have a countywide presence with just one membership. At the same time, this doubles the capacity of our impact in Pasco.”

Located directly above the current office of Mark Gold, the developer of The Grove, and his Mishorim Gold Properties, the 5,000-sq.-ft. space will offer a plethora of tools for budding entrepreneurs.

The incubator will have 10 private offices, 32 desks, a co-working lounge, huddle rooms, an executive board room, classrooms, meeting spaces and a digital media studio, for things like podcasts.

Office rental space will be provided, as well as classes on financing, marketing and legal issues businesses may encounter. Sometimes, it’s a fresh idea that needs a helpful nudge, or it can be an already established business that is stuck and looking to get to the next level.

The Pasco EDC also offers micro loans (between $30,000-50,000 are the most common amounts), and being in the incubator offers opportunities for networking and the exchange of ideas and strategies.

The SMARTstart Small Business Program also will operate a space for food entrepreneurs out of one of the re-imagined shipping crates that are part of the innovative KRATE by Gold Box project that Gold is building in his effort to revive The Grove.

Because small businesses have a large fail rate within the first two years, Cronin says the idea behind the incubator is to give businesses the tools they may otherwise lack. Cronin says it is like taking an idea and adding the entrepreneurial approach to it.

“Inventors are good at inventing things,” Cronin says, “but sometimes not as good at getting those inventions to market.”

While many businesses are struggling during the current Covid-19 pandemic, and opening something new may seem ill-timed, Cronin says times of economic turmoil are perfect for a business incubator program.

“This is when you see a big increase in start-up activity,” he says. “This incubator offers them a great opportunity.”

For already-established businesses, the EDC has helped the county provide numerous grants of up to $5,000 per business during the Covid-19 crisis.

To join the waiting list for incubator space, or get more information, visit http://smartstartpasco.com/?/The-Grove-Entrepreneur-Center.

incubator Pasco EDC

Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus Still Set To Open Next Month!

In June, more than 300 teams from around the country competed in youth baseball and softball tournaments at Champions Park in Newberry, FL, a baseball/softball complex which features 16 fields on 40 acres, with plenty of room for social distancing.

Parents were seated beyond the outfield fences, many watching from beneath 10’ x 10’ tents. Dugouts were sprayed with disinfectant, and precautions were taken against the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which had shut all sports down from March to May.

So, when you ask Richard Blalock — the CEO and founder of RADD Sports, which is managing the nearly complete Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County — if youth sports tourism (see story on next page) is ready to bounce back in Wesley Chapel, he is predictably bullish.

“The youth sports travel industry is the most resilient tourism industry out there,” says Blalock, a 40-year veteran of the business and the former parks director for the City of Newberry. RADD Sports also manages Champions Park.

“In 2008 (when the last recession hit), Mickey Mouse was down 38 percent,” he says, “but youth sports was only down three percent. When it comes to parents’ discretionary spending, they most often choose sports.”

Based on the first few months for the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, parents and athletes definitely are eager to get back at it.

The first event Blalock has scheduled for the new, 98,000 sq.-ft. indoor facility is only six weeks away — on Sunday, August 23 — a Blue Star Basketball event that will feature some of the best girls basketball players in the country.

The following week will be the NIKE Volleyball championships, which will have more than 60 teams in different age groups, and the week after, a 40-team high school volleyball tournament is scheduled.

The campus also is pretty much booked for September, and also already has multiple events planned in October and November as well.

Blalock says his staff is working closely with Pasco County officials on local programming protocols for the weekdays, and hopes to launch a wide variety of recreational and competitive local basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and soccer programs in September.

While recent spikes in positive cases of Covid-19 — including amongst the younger demographics — were again rattling many in Florida as June drew to a close, Blalock is confident youth and adult sports can return safely.

“We’re all just trying to do what we have to do to keep everyone safe, so we can keep allowing the kids to play,” he says, adding that the campus likely will have to limit spectators — where, for example, mom can only come watch her kid play in the morning, while dad gets the afternoon shift.

Covid-19 presents a complex set of unique challenges, and Blalock says the sports tourism industry is undergoing a massive shift to meet those challenges head on. “We have to bob and weave a little bit to figure this out,” he says.

Whatever that transformation will be, it will not only require providing a safe environment, but it will have to assuage parental fears about the dangers of Covid-19 transmission. He says the entire industry is communicating about best practices and sharing ideas, and those have been passed on to his staff during their training for the opening of the new facility.

Regardless, the interest clearly hasn’t waned for cabin-fever-stricken athletes and their families. “We’re booking the thing up pretty quick,” Blalock says.

For registration and other information about the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County (3021 Sports Coast Way), visit Wiregrass-Sports.com or see the ad on pg. 3 of this issue. For sponsorship information, email Jannah@RADDSports.com.

basketball campus volleyball Wiregrass sports

Getting Lost In Flatwoods Not As Crazy As It Sounds!

*The most recent hikers lost in Flatwoods Park were found by HCSO’s Aviation Unit (top) with help from the light from their cell phones.*

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) rescued two hikers from New Tampa’s Flatwoods Wilderness Park on June 4, a fact that could make those who regularly use the popular 7-mile biking loop wonder:

How did that happen?

Social media teased the hikers, who were not identified, although some also sympathized with them.

But hikers, particularly inexperienced ones, getting lost in Flatwoods Park — which has entrances on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and Morris Bridge Rd. — or even one of the area’s hidden gems, the New Tampa Nature Park (which can be entered off Dona Michele Dr.), isn’t really as crazy as it sounds.

This past December, an avid hiker made the news when she got lost for two hours in Flatwoods, and had to call the HCSO, which sent in a helicopter to help with the search.

“It happens now and again,” says Jan Kirwan, the City of Tampa’s conservation parks coordinator.

Combined, the two parks, which are connected, have more than 31 miles of wilderness hiking trails. While most of the trails are marked, Kirwan says that some are more primitive than others.

HCSO’s Aviation Unit, which is used to assist in rescues and arrests, was able to locate the most recent hikers to get turned around at Flatwoods thanks to their cell phone lights. The aviation unit then directed park rangers to their location.

According to the 9-1-1 call, a man and his friend were on the popular Panther Path, one of the park’s off-road trails, but ended up near a swampy area on the west side of the park towards I-75.

While Kirwan says people can get lost, “If you are familiar with following a trail then you shouldn’t have any problem.” Sometimes, hikers will inadvertently follow an animal trail that bisects the regular trails.

But, if you venture off the beaten path, be prepared.

Kirwan says cell phone service is not always available in the park, and if you are relying on maps on your phone, you could find yourself without any directions. It’s always smart, she says, to have a compass on hand.

Mostly, however, inexperienced hikers sometimes find themselves misdirected when they try to stretch their trip out.

“People don’t realize how dark it can get,” Kirwan says. “It’s not like there are lights out there, and under the trees there’s not much moonlight that gets through. It looks very, very different in the dark.”

That’s why the hours of the park are generally dawn to dusk. The recent hiker rescue began with a 9-1-1 call at 9:24 p.m., after the park had closed.

While neither Flatwoods or the New Tampa Nature Park are advanced hiking areas, they are a step up from, say, Lettuce Lake Park off Fletcher Ave., which is only 240 acres. Lettuce Lake, Kirwan says, is more of a gateway park into the wilderness parks in New Tampa, which offer a plethora of trails and wildlife.

“You see a lot of bird (watchers) in the morning, and there’s plenty of other animals like deer, turkeys, hares and wild hogs,” Kirwan says. “It should be a fun little hike. Just remember, it’s always good to let someone know where you’re going. Then, if you don’t get back, they know where you were.”

flatwoods hikers

Public & Private Summer Camp Programs Start Slowly

Summer camps at the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC) have finally begun for eager — and maybe, a little stir crazy — kids and parents, as the city expands some of its preliminary offerings.

Seven different City of Tampa sites with gymnasiums hosted Summer Kickoff Camps through June 19, which took a cautious approach, with limited numbers. On June 22, the Rec Summer Camps kicked off on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Summer Kickoff Camps had limited groups and served almost as a test run, as the city tries to figure out the best practices for new, more stringent protocols for social distancing and cleanliness.

“We’d like to be going full-bore right now, but that wasn’t feasible,” says Heather Erickson, the City of Tampa’s manager of aquatics, athletics and special facilities. “We have been very conservative.”

The NTRC did not host kickoff camps. It had been closed since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, although construction on the center’s expansion, which will be completed later this summer, has continued throughout.

The city also was able to make a number of improvements all of its facilities.

“The silver lining is that we’ve been able to replace all of our lights in our gyms, and the place is cleaner than it’s ever been,” Erikson says.

The NTRC eased back into things by allowing its softball teams to begin practicing and opening the first week in June for some of its competitive and more advanced dance teams.

The tumbling mats are mopped between each group, coaches are wearing masks and hospital-grade organic anti-bacterial fogger is used every 28 days to keep the air as germ-free as possible.

“We have some pretty crazy safety protocols in place,” Erickson says, “but this is the new normal.”

By starting with the older, more experienced kids, who are all part of the year-round programs offered at the NTRC, the facility was able to get a feel for the new standards.

“The hardest thing is not letting them hug the coaches,” Erickson says. “They all really missed each other.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ended all restrictions on youth activities for the state on May 22, but other than directing people to the CDC guidelines, offered little direction.

Erickson says the NTRC is offering four different summer camps, and typically they host 175 or so kids. She said the summer numbers will be a moving target this year, and could contract or expand depending upon how the camps unfold.

As anyone who has ever coached a large group of 9-year-olds can attest, enforcing group social distancing is simple only in theory.

“I sure wish we had a manual for this,” says Erickson. “We’re really writing it as we go.”

All Summer Camps Get The Green Light

On June 1, roughly 20 kids showed up at the first PROtential Sports camp of the summer at Heritage Isles.

Two weeks later, a similarly-sized group began camp at the Seven Oaks Community Club in Wesley Chapel.

For PROtential Sports co-owner Nyree Bland, it meant she could finally breathe again.

“I am grateful to be opened again. It’s good to be back,” says Bland who, along with her husband (and former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver) Tony, has been running PROtential sports camps locally for 17 years.

Meanwhile, Bland says PROtential’s camps usually have 100-plus participants at each location, but will be limited to 25 percent of their usual capacity in the early going this summer.

She has canceled the field trips that are usually a part of the PROtential Sports summer camp experience.

Counselors will be taking the temperatures of each camper daily.

The groups will be kept smaller than usual, since some of the activities are held indoors.

“The parents we have talked to that are coming are super excited,” Bland says. “Some aren’t ready. I think it is about 50-50. So, we’ll be a lot smaller. But, it’s the new normal, and I’m embracing it.”

coronavirus New Tampa Recreation Center