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Three Championships to Score on Alabama's Beaches

10/28/2009

GULF SHORES and ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Before the turkey hits the oven, November kicks off with several championship athletic events along Alabama’s beaches. The Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission – along with its partners and sponsors – is proud to welcome these events:

SEC Women’s Soccer Championship

Continuing a tradition, highly competitive SEC soccer action once again returns to Alabama’s beaches for the 2009 Soccer Championship. Orange Beach Sportsplex will host all rounds of tournament play spanning Nov. 4 – 8.

The top eight seeds square off in quarterfinal action starting at noon on Wednesday. Other games played that day will start at 2:30 p.m. 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The winners advance to semifinal play on Friday, November 6 with games beginning at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Finally, the championship showdown is scheduled for Sunday, November 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Adult tickets are $5.00 per day while child tickets (K-12) are $2.00 per day. Children under 4 years old are free. Tickets will be sold at the gate, which will open one hour prior to each game.

For the first time in SEC history, all matches from this year’s soccer tournament will be broadcast via ESPNU television and will streamed on SECsports.com, thanks to an agreement with ESPN and a partnership with XOS Digital.

All matches leading up to the championship game will be streamed live on SECsports.com for free.

Sunday’s championship match will be aired live starting at 2:00 p.m. CST, and after the tournament ends, SEC Weekly will feature a recap of the championship tournament on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. EST. ESPNU reaches 55 million homes throughout the U.S.

In addition, Sunday’s game will broadcast on SECsports.com and XM Satellite Radio with broadcaster Neil Price. XM channels are yet to be determined.

For more information on the SEC Soccer Championship, call 251-981-PLAY, or visit www.obparksandrec.com or www.secsports.com.

Free Youth Soccer Clinic

Students from Orange Beach Elementary have been invited to participate in a free youth soccer clinic on Thursday, November 5 starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. During the two hour clinic, students will visit four drill stations and will end the day with an inspiring talk from the coaches and a lunch provided by Chick-fil-A. Soccer balls will be given by Wilson while IMG College is providing the shirts.

USTA Southern Combo Doubles Adult Championship

After qualifying for tournament play by winning their local leagues, more than 740 tennis players are expected to travel from across the state of Alabama to compete in the Adult Combo Doubles State Championships sponsored by Mini, which is set for November 5-8. Play will be held daily from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 5:00 p.m. each day at the following sites: the Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club, The Beach Club, the Gulf Shores Plantation, the George Meyer Tennis Center, the Johnnie Sims Park in Gulf Shores and the Orange Beach Tennis Center. Admission is free of charge.

In 2007, this high-caliber tournament took home the Southern USTA Event of the Year and in 2000, it was named the Alabama USTA Tournament of the Year. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.alabamata.com.

IFA Redfish Tour Championship

With multiple titles and payouts up for grabs, action in the IFA Redfish Tour will culminate with its season-ending championship at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Ala., on November 6th and 7th. Two days of furious fishing action in this catch-and-release tournament will crown the tour championship and ultimately decide the several other top awards.

A field of two-person teams will travel from outlying states such as Texas and North Carolina and the surrounding region to represent six different IFA divisions.

Returning to defend their 2008 series title, Glen Finley and Dodd Wood will compete on the Alabama Gulf Coast after qualifying in the Carolina division. Joining them will be the 2008 Cabela’s Overall Divisional Team of the Year Jay Cedotal and Chad Dufrene, who qualified in the Louisiana division. The Cabela’s award is contested during the championship event and is awarded to the division winning team with the highest finish place.

Adding to the excitement, another tournament-within-the-tournament is up for grabs. The “Ultra 6” award and its accompanying $5,000 cash prize is handed out to the highest finishing team that has fished in six or more of the regular season events.

The weekend activities actually begin on Thursday (November 5th) with registration from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. inside Live Bait at The Wharf. A captain’s meeting is set to follow registration, during which check-in times will be assigned. Anglers will launch each morning at safe light from the The Wharf’s marina.

During this year of the competition in the IFA, the 18 regular season events offered $47,000 in payouts per event (based on a 100 boat field) as well as increased first-place prize packages. In 2009, every regular-season tournament winner – regardless of field size – won a fully loaded 2009 Ranger Banshee Extreme powered by a 60-horsepower, four-stroke Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Bob’s four-inch Ultra Light Jackplate, Power-Pole shallow water anchor, Minn Kota trolling motor, Humminbird electronics, Blue Point Fabrication metal work and Loadmaster trailer. The entire first-place prize package is valued at $30,000.

For more information, visit www.redfishtour.com.

Later in November, the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission will welcome these upcoming events: 2009 Hurricane Taekwondo Championship (November 11-15), USSSA Last Swing Gulf Coast Baseball (November 14-15), Kaiser Realty Coastal ½ Marathon and 5K Run (November 28) and the Gulf Shores Christmas Basketball Tournament (December 18-19).

For information, please visit www.alabamagulfcoastsports.com, or call 1-800-745-SAND.

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