Sports Anaheim Announces Historic Partnerships With USA Water Polo, USA Volleyball And USA Badminton

ANAHEIM, Calif., Dec. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sports Anaheim, a division of Visit Anaheim, the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for Anaheim and Garden Grove, today announced signed partnership agreements with USA Water Polo, USA Volleyball and USA Badminton. The signed agreements bring Sports Anaheim closer to its mission of strengthening and promoting local sports culture by attracting diverse sporting events to Anaheim and Orange County.

At an event today at the Anaheim Convention Center, officials from USA Water Polo, USA Volleyball and USA Badminton came together to sign agreements with Sports Anaheim. The agreements signed today include:

• USA Badminton: Anaheim will now serve as USA Badminton's national headquarters and training center. The organization will relocate from Colorado Springs, CO.
• USA Volleyball: Sports Anaheim will be assuming the contract between USA Volleyball and the City of Anaheim. The extension will be valid through 2020.
• USA Water Polo: Anaheim will now be the official travel destination for USA Water Polo (e.g., USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics 2017 and 2019 tournaments will be held in Anaheim).

"It is an historic day in Anaheim, for Sports Anaheim and the amateur sports community," said Jay Burress, President & CEO, Visit Anaheim. "Today marks an important turning point for Sports Anaheim and the faith that USA Water Polo, USA Volleyball and USA Badminton have placed in our organization and ability to build a game-changing amateur sporting event destination. The agreements signed solidify Anaheim's place in the growing amateur sports community."

"We are excited to be headed to Anaheim where we will benefit from being closer to so many of our members and athletes," USA Badminton's Board of Directors Chairman David Simon said. "The sport is experiencing tremendous growth in California. This move puts us close to both current and prospective sponsors and by being on the Pacific Rim we will be a nonstop flight away from many major badminton nations."

"USA Volleyball could not be more pleased that our USA National Women's and Men's Teams will be calling the City of Anaheim home for another four years," said Kerry Klostermann, Secretary General, USA Volleyball. "The Men's team relocated to Anaheim in 2006 and the Women followed in 2009. The Olympic medals won by the teams in 2008, 2012 and 2016 are attributable to the generous support provided by the City of Anaheim and its citizens."

"Anaheim offers such a distinct experience to visiting sports fans and as our official travel destination will add so much to our fans time in Orange County," said Marty Samuels, COO, USA Water Polo. "We're really excited to be partnering with the team at Sports Anaheim and the city as we start gearing up for the upcoming Junior Olympics in 2017 and 2019."

About Sports Anaheim
Sports Anaheim was established to bring in local, national and international sporting events into the destination, and serve as a resource for local organizations needing support in their bid to attract sports business. Since its launch in March 2016, the division has forged partnerships and inked deals to bring the following events into Anaheim and Orange County:

• American Athletic Union: First West Coast office in Anaheim
• 2017 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships
• 2017 USA P&G Gymnastics Championship in Anaheim
• LA24 Bid for 2024 Olympic Games
• 2017 USA Weightlifting American Open
• 2017 USA Fencing North American Cup
• North American Chinese Invitation Volleyball Tournament
• Varsity Spirit Corporation

For more information on Visit Anaheim, please visit: www.visitanaheim.org/sports-anaheim.

About Visit Anaheim
Founded in 1961, Visit Anaheim is a 501 (c)(6) nonprofit destination marketing organization. Visit Anaheim's mission is to develop, market and sell Anaheim benefiting the economic vitality of our communities. Follow Visit Anaheim on Facebook (Facebook.com/VisitAnaheim) Twitter (@Visit_Anaheim), Instagram (Instagram.com/VisitAnaheim) and LinkedIn (VisitAnaheim).

About USA Badminton
USA Badminton is the national governing body for the sport in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Badminton World Federation.

About USA Volleyball
Founded in 1928, USA Volleyball is a Colorado incorporated non-profit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) as the National Governing Body for the disciplines of beach volleyball, indoor volleyball and sitting volleyball in the United States. USA Volleyball has over 325,000 registered members, 12,000 teams and 5,300 clubs nationwide. With an annual budget in excess of $31 million dollars, USA Volleyball supports the USA men's and women's senior national team programs for beach, indoor and sitting volleyball; youth and junior national teams, national championship events, coaching education, certification programs and grassroots development across all disciplines. USA Volleyball has a rich tradition of success as evidenced by winning an Olympic medal in every Olympic Games since 1984, three Paralympic medals since 2004 and capturing numerous World Cup, World Championship and Continental Championship titles. USA Volleyball is committed to and works toward opportunity for all to participate. It is an advocate for all Americans endeavoring to assure universal access to opportunities at all levels of the game. For more information on USA Volleyball, visit www.usavolleyball.org.

About USA Water Polo 
USA Water Polo, Inc. is the national governing body for water polo in America, overseeing our United States Olympic program as well as 20 different championship events annually, such as Junior Olympics and Masters National Championships. With more than 40,000 members, USAWP also is the sanctioning authority for more than 500 Member Clubs and more than 400 tournaments nationwide. USAWP is committed to the development of the sport throughout the U.S. It fosters grass-roots expansion of the sport, providing a national system of affiliated clubs, certified coaches and officials.

SOURCE Visit Anaheim

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