Shooting
Events For ESPN Great Outdoor Games
To Be Held At Central Florida's Tenoroc Range
Hailed As Ideal Site For Shotgun, Rifle Events
NEWTOWN,
Conn.—Rifle and shotgun enthusiasts tuning in to the ESPN Great
Outdoor Games presented by Dodge can expect to see world-class
facilities at this year's shooting sports venue, Tenoroc
Shooting Sports and Training Range, near Lakeland, Fla. Shooting
industry officials list Tenoroc as their first choice for
firearms sporting events in central Florida because the facility
regularly accommodates a variety of competitions.
The Games will
be held July 7-10, and broadcast July 13-17, 2005, on ESPN,
ESPN2 and ABC Sports. Last year, nearly 36 million people tuned
in to watch the Games, a new high for the event.
“We’re excited to again be part of the Great Outdoor Games, and
we look forward to competing at Tenoroc,” said Cyndi Dalena,
director of shooting sports development for the National
Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF®), which sponsors ESPN’s rifle
and shotgun events. “Tenoroc has a great reputation among
shooters, and that’s important to NSSF. This is a first-class
facility, and its staff is experienced in handling high-profile
shooting events.”
The rifle and shotgun competitions will be the only events not
held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, so Tenoroc’s
location, 30 miles southwest of Disney, is a bonus. The Tenoroc
shooting complex covers 170 acres and has several shooting
ranges to accommodate rifles, shotguns, handguns and archery
shooting. It also features a fully stocked pro shop, an ample
parking lot and a covered rifle range. The property is three
miles northeast of Lakeland and is surrounded by the sprawling
7,300-acre Tenoroc Fish & Wildlife Management Area, which is
owned by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The state of Florida leases the shooting-range property to Mark
Smith, president of Tenoroc Shooting Sports and Training. Smith
has operated the Tenoroc complex for five years. He said between
15,000 and 20,000 shooters use the facilities each year. These
events include charity and corporate shoots, monthly tournaments
for the National Sporting Clays Association, and
hunter-education shooting instruction for all classes from the
surrounding five counties.
“We’re looking forward to showcasing our facilities and—more
importantly—helping increase the awareness among non-shooters of
the fun they can have in shooting sports,” Smith said. “Everyone
in the Lakeland area has been excited since first hearing ESPN
chose Tenoroc to host its Great Outdoor Games’ shooting events.”
Because of Tenoroc’s diverse facilities, this will be the first
time in the Great Outdoor Games’ six-year history that it won’t
require the event’s firearms ranges to be built from scratch to
meet local safety concerns. “We’ll hold both of the ESPN events
on our 100-yard rifle range,” Smith said. “ESPN will build
bleachers and grandstands that don’t exist right now to
accommodate spectators, but our ranges were built to ensure safe
shooting.”
Among those who consider Tenoroc a wise choice is Jack
Robertson, special-events manager for NSSF. “When ESPN started
looking around central Florida for a place to hold the firearms
events, Tenoroc was my first choice, so I’m glad we’re going
there,” Robertson said. “We also like the fact it’s close to the
Interstate and not far from Disney. But Tenoroc’s main
attraction is that it lends itself perfectly to our events,
whether you’re a shooter or spectator.”
Another one of Tenoroc’s fans is Kevin Howard, president of
Howard Communications in Elsberry, Mo. Howard’s company handles
public relations for Winchester Ammunition, and Browning and
Winchester firearms. Howard and his associates chose Tenoroc for
their outdoor writers’ and sales representatives’ shooting
events that preceded the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade
Show at Orlando in February 2003. Howard said his firm intends
to use Tenoroc again when the SHOT Show® returns to Orlando in
January 2007.
“When we looked around before the SHOT Show in 2003, we knew we
needed a place that could handle all three firearms we work
with—rifle, pistol and shotgun,” Howard said. “Tenoroc
accommodated us real well. Everything worked out fine. Mark
Smith and his staff made sure we had what we needed, and that we
had enough staff to run our events. We’re looking forward to our
next trip to Tenoroc.”
The four-day ESPN Great Outdoor Games presented by Dodge was
held in Lake Placid, N.Y., during its first three years,
2000-2002; and then visited Reno, Nev., in 2003 and Madison,
Wis., in 2004. The 2005 Games will feature more than 200
athletes competing in more than 30 events. In addition to the
target sports, which include archery, the Great Outdoor Games
feature sporting dogs, timber events and, for the first time
this year, ATV competitions.
Since its inception in 2001, ESPN Outdoors has strived to inform
and entertain anglers, hunters, campers and people of all ages
who enjoy the outdoors. ESPN Outdoors is committed to increasing
awareness of outdoor activities, a direction best exemplified by
daily television programming totaling nearly 1,000 hours
annually on ESPN and ESPN2.
Each year, ESPN Outdoors stages more than 30 marquee events
including the CITGO Bassmaster Classic and the ESPN Great
Outdoor Games. ESPN Outdoors comprises BASS, the worldwide
authority on bass fishing that sanctions more than 20,000 events
through the BASS Federation. ESPN Outdoors also features
Bassmaster.com, ESPNOutdoors.com, a weekly outdoors show on ESPN
Radio as well as a growing array of promotions and activities
that deliver a clear message of conservation and ethical
sportsmanship. For more information, contact ESPN Outdoors
Communications at (334) 551-2375.
NSSF is the
professional trade association for the shooting, hunting and
outdoor industry. It manages a variety of industry services,
safety, participation and public relations programs. Its efforts
have been well received—today, more than 40 million Americans
safely participate in the shooting sports. |
