Aug. 21, 2007

Fairbanks, Alaska - SportsTravel magazine has announced that the 2007 NCAA Rifle Championships held in Fairbanks and hosted by the Alaska Nanooks this past March have been nominated for a 2007 SportsTravel Award. Events are nominated and then voted upon by readers of SportsTravel, the sports world's event magazine.

Criteria for nomination and voting include superior organization of and attendance at the event, a superior experience for the competitors and/or spectators at the event, and how the site or venue served to enhance the event. Final balloting is open through September 15, 2007. Winners will be announced at the TEAMS 2007 Conference & Expo, October 23-27, 2006, in Louisville.

Official ballots are available in the August and September issues of SportsTravel magazine. Readers can also vote online at www.SportsTravelMagazine.com.

The ballot includes nominees in amateur, collegiate and professional categories. Awards in those three categories will be given for best single-sport event, best multi-sport or multi-discipline event, and best sports event series or circuit. Voters will also pick best new sports event and an overall Sports Event of the Year from among the nominated events.

"Since the location of the event is a major part of the criteria for being nominated, the people of Fairbanks should take great pride in knowing that an event held in their city is being recognized for its excellence," said Timothy Schneider, publisher of SportsTravel magazine, which organizes the TEAMS Conference and Expo. "SportsTravel readers are the leaders of the sports-event industry and they really know what it takes to execute a high-quality athletic event," said Schneider. "The SportsTravel Awards program is an opportunity for them to honor their peers and the cities that host sporting events for a job well done."

Jamal Brown, Meetings and Conventions Coordinator with the Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau and a former marketing assistant for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Athletics, nominated the event for consideration. "My goal was to get some of our exciting and unparalleled events on the ballot," Brown said. "Not only did we get on the ballot, but one of our strongest events of the year has a real chance of winning and putting Fairbanks on the map."

Brown will be attending the TEAMS 2007 Conference and Expo, the world's largest annual gathering for the sports event and sports-related travel industry, where last year he first heard about the contest and realized the importance of peer nominations in the sports industry.

Release courtesy of FCVB