always nice to have new facilities come on board

[gh]

with its new building scheduled to be completed this fall, Spokane has been chosen as site for next year's USATF Indoor

[gm]

Yes indeed.

Also nice new places at Chicago, Virginia Beach, Topeka & Louisville, with a few more rumored to be coming.

[polevaultpower]

Well this is certainly the earliest USATF has confirmed a date and location for their indoor championships in some time...

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...hampionships-/

https://www.usatf.org/news/2021/2022...et-for-spokane

[polevaultpower]

I think the key detail here is not just that this is a new facility, it is a new facility that actually wants to work with USATF to put on this meet. There don't seem to be many of those left.

[KevinR]

Great news, and certainly welcome.

[Conor Dary]

Meanwhile....an ad in the Chicago Tribune today....."Book your next track meet today!"

[tandfman]

I wonder why would they advertise in the Chicago Tribune.

[Conor Dary]

It was part of a vacation in Florida supplement which is appropriate since it's like zero there now...hotels etc...and then this ad!

But not at all sure who it was aimed at...."Hey honey where should we have our next track meet?"

[Halfmiler2]

Spokane in the past has hosted National Junior Olympics . It has a good reputation. The only knock is that it isn’t the easiest place to get to from much of the country.

I did hear when officiating at the National Indoor Meet in 2019 at Ocean Breeze (Staten Island) the USATF contract calls for the National Indoor Meet eventually to return there a second time.

[ATK]

Spokane in the past has hosted National Junior Olympics . It has a good reputation. The only knock is that it isn’t the easiest place to get to from much of the country.

Curious, as Ive never been to Spokane before, but is it more challenging to get to Spokane than it is Eugene? I would guess, west coast areas aside, many (most?) would connect through Seattle which would then be a similar flight distance as it would be to Eugene.

[polevaultpower]

Curious, as Ive never been to Spokane before, but is it more challenging to get to Spokane than it is Eugene? I would guess, west coast areas aside, many (most?) would connect through Seattle which would then be a similar flight distance as it would be to Eugene.

Much easier to fly to Spokane than Eugene, especially for pole vaulters. Southwest flies there. Trickier to drive there from Seattle because of the mountain passes. I'm hoping to have a few days flexibility on either side so that I can avoid having to cross in bad conditions. Sounds like a good excuse to get a longer break from my kids 😉

[polevaultpower]

I did hear when officiating at the National Indoor Meet in 2019 at Ocean Breeze (Staten Island) the USATF contract calls for the National Indoor Meet eventually to return there a second time.

That was the original plan. Things changed.

[tandfman]

And I suppose they could change again.

[polevaultpower]

And I suppose they could change again.

Anything is possible! My guess is that we are fine to hold the meet next year, but that there will still be restrictions on the number of spectators, and we will still be requiring COVID testing for athletes, maybe officials too. Maybe they'll have easy to use rapid tests available for all.

The local CVB is behind the LOC and they want to fill hotel rooms. I suspect for the indoor champs that the bulk of hotel rooms are filled by those with credentials plus friends and family of the athletes. The number of uncredentialed spectators with no close ties to anyone competing is not huge, at least based off my observations in ABQ.

If there are no restrictions, I think there are certainly those in the area and region who would drive out, but this is a long way of saying that moderate restrictions on total spectators probably won't have a huge impact on how many hotel rooms are filled.

[Conor Dary]

Much easier to fly to Spokane than Eugene, especially for pole vaulters. Southwest flies there. Trickier to drive there from Seattle because of the mountain passes. I'm hoping to have a few days flexibility on either side so that I can avoid having to cross in bad conditions. Sounds like a good excuse to get a longer break from my kids 😉

United flies nonstop Eugene-O'Hare