Venues | Events 

VENUES and ATTRACTIONS

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Christiansburg Aquatic Center:A brand new, state of the art, 64,000 square foot aquatic facility. The Christiansburg Aquatic Center has a 50 meter competition pool with spring board and a 10 meter diving platform, as well as, a zero-depth entry family leisure pool with a two-story, triple loop water slide, spray features, and dumping water buckets. It also has a heated therapy pool with a spa-like atmosphere that is excellent for those with arthritic joints and overexerted muscles. Being a central hub for the Virginia Tech Hokies and having 1,100 seats for spectators, this facility is great for major swimming and diving competitions like the ACC championships and NCAA tournaments. www.christiansburg.org/aquatics, sbennett@christiansburg.org 

A new marina on Philpott Lake in Henry County is in the development stages and will be open to the public by early summer. Philpott Lake hosted the FLW Northwestern Conference College Fishing Championships that was televised internationally on December 16, 2012.

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Boars Head Inn: A newly constructed 33,000 square foot squash court facility is scheduled to be completed spring 2013. The facility will serve as the home venue for the University of Virginia men’s and women’s squash programs and will also be open to members of the Boar’s Head Sports Club and resort guests. When completed the new facility will include eight international singles courts, an international show court with seating for about 200, two North American doubles courts, locker rooms, offices and storage. www.boarsheadinn.com 

The new Collegiate School Aquatics Center is Central Virginia’s first world-class aquatics center. The 50,000 square foot aquatics facility includes a therapy pool, a fitness center, a 25-yard practice pool, a rehabilitation center, seating for 700 spectators and, most notably, the 50-meter Myrtha pool from the 2008 Olympic trials in Omaha. In this pool, which is considered among the fastest in the world, America’s top swimmers attained new levels, achieving 9 world records, 21 national records, and 17 U.S. Open records. The Greater Richmond Aquatics Partnership (owner of the aquatics center) is a collaboration of Poseidon Swimming, Collegiate School, Trinity Episcopal School, Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club, and Sports Backers. Visit www.greaterrichmondaquaticspartnership.org for more information or contact adam.kennedy@grapva.org 

River City Sportsplex: : River City Sportsplex is a multi-sport complex in Chesterfield County, Virginia with 12 full size top of the line synthetic turf fields and nine out of the 12 fields are lighted. Contact Sue Murphy, Director of Events, at sue.murphy@rivercity-sportsplex.com or 804-267-7246 for more facility information.

Ukrop Park is a 45.5 acre sports complex in Chesterfield, Virginia that is home to the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club. The state-of-the-art park features seven Musco lighted athletic fields, which include two fields with artificial Sportexe surface and five fields with natural grass. Learn more about Ukrop Park and the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club atwww.richmondkickers.com 

Mary B. Stratton Park is a new sports complex in Chesterfield County.  At the parks and recreation owned complex, there are two SPORTSTEX synthetic turf fields with lights and permanent lining for soccer, field hockey and boy’s lacrosse.  The property is located adjacent to Ukrop Park with its seven multipurpose fields and the Collegiate School Aquatics Center.  Up to four miles of trails for hiking, biking and picnicking will eventually be built on the 178 acres that make up Stratton Park.  The fields at Stratton Park are set to open on February 15, 2013.  Learn more at http://www.chesterfield.gov/parks/.

HAMPTON ROADS

Virginia Beach Field House: This new facility has more than 175,000 square feet, and offers, camps, clinics, and tournaments for youth and adults in soccer, flag football, volleyball, basketball, arena (indoor) baseball and softball, field hockey, lacrosse, dodge ball and other social sports. They also host birthday and team parties, corporate events and other organized activities. The Virginia Beach Field House has six turf fields, eight regulation volleyball courts, four basketball courts, multiple party rooms, an arcade and an indoor Fun Zone.  They have full locker rooms with day lockers and showers. For entertainment there are also more than over 40 flat screen TV’s throughout the building, and four 110’ giant screen TV’s in the lounge.  www.beachfieldhouse.com/ 

Stoney Run Community Center: Newport News, Virginia recently broke ground on their newest community center. The center will be 50,000 square feet in size and include a gymnasium with 2 full size Basketball Courts and lined for Volleyball and a Walking Track. There will also be a dance room, a teen center, an early childhood center and 7 multi-purpose rooms with a capacity range of 50-500. The center will also offer a variety of instructional classes and sports activities. Space will be available for the addition of a swimming pool in the future. Anticipated opening date will be Winter/Spring of 2012. www.nnparks.com 

Windsor Castle Park: Located in the heart of downtown Smithfield, Windsor Castle Park is a 209.8 acre riverside park which features a woodland trail system, picnic and open area space, a dog park, state-of-the-art kayak/ canoe launch, fishing pier, mountain bike path, scenic overlooks and the Windsor Castle Historic Site. www.windsorcastlepark.org 

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

The Dick and Willie Passage Trail is 4.5 miles in length and runs along a portion of old Danville and Western railroad track. Once part of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, the Danville and Western was affectionately nicknamed the "Dick and Willie." Thanks to the efforts of many individuals as well as Henry County, City of Martinsville, Virginia Tobacco Commission, today the old Dick & Willie line continues its service to residents and visitors and lives on as a paved recreational trail. While much of the trail passes through natural spaces, it also connects several residential and commercial areas to the Uptown Historic Shopping District. www.visitmartinsville.com 

CHESAPEAKE BAY

Renovations at Virginia Motor Speedway:  Fans and competitors will notice a few changes when they return for the 2012 season.  New will be additional restrooms under the main grandstand area, new backstretch billboards, a new registration building in the competitor parking area and a new eight acre parking area for RV’s and campers that will once again feature free camping at Virginia Motor Speedway for any of the weekly and special events.  www.vamotorspeedway.com 

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

The D.C. area’s first public Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, Potomac Shores Golf Course, is set to open this summer. The 18-hole, par-72 course along the Potomac River and Powell’s Creek in Prince William County will feature a 7,500 square foot luxury clubhouse with wrap around porch.

Vertical Rock Indoor Climbing Gym in Manassas is hosting a multi-state regionals climbing competition open to qualifying participants May 11-12, 2013. The competition will showcase the sport of climbing by more than 300 of the best competitors on the East Coast.

BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS

Geocaching at Primland:  Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which a GPS receiver is used to hide and seek containers. At Primland, there are 2 courses designed in partnership with Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment. The Pinnacle Loop Trail is ideal for families with young children, and The Buzzards Roost Trail is more challenging with more difficult terrain. Each trail contains caches that provide information on the history of the region and the plants and animals native to this area of the Blue Ridge Mountains.   In addition a re-creation of six miles of the Old Appalachian Trail for hikers and mountain bikers has opened.  www.primland.com 

HEART OF APPALACHIA

State Route 16 Between Tazewell County & Smyth County - Back of the Dragon: Back of the Dragon is an exciting excursion which calls to motorcyclists, sports car enthusiasts and nature lovers. Drive across the Back of the Dragon on Route 16 between Tazewell and Marion: three winding, curvy mountains, over 260 curves some 15 MPH turns, and breathtaking views.  www.backofthedragon.com 

EVENTS

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

The Botetourt Sports Complex will host or co-host many major sporting events in 2013 from Adult Slow-Pitch Tournaments to the ISF Senior World Cup, but new this year to Botetourt is the Bike Virginia Tour, June 21-26, 2013. Cycling enthusiasts will see the beauty of western Virginia while biking from Rockbridge-Lexington-Buena Vista to Botetourt and around the Greater Roanoke Region. The complex is also constructing four new batting cages that will allow the complex to host more teams and add incentive for some event organizers.

The Virginia Horse Center will host a new event in 2013.
   Hedrick Rodeo – December 7-8, 2013.

CENTRAL VIRGINIA

The Richmond Region will host several new events including: 

• Triple Crown Volleyball Camp and Showcase at the Greater Richmond Convention Center – June 18-21
  The Triple Crown Volleyball Classic will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network from the Richmond Coliseum on Friday, June 21^st.
• Elite Clubs National League Finals – July 10-15 with the Under-17 National finals televised on ESPNU and GolTV.
• The Richmond Raceway Complex at Richmond International Raceway will host a new Glow Run 5k on May 11, 2013.

HAMPTON ROADS

The 4^th Annual Hampton Sports Festival is adding new events in 2013. Spectators can experience high-energy events with hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of athletes gathered to compete during this annual sports festival on February 15-17, 2013. This particular event will bring in over 20 different sports in one weekend.

Williamsburg will host several new sporting events in 2013 including:

• Revolutionary Rumble (volleyball) on April 26-28, 2013.
• Rev3 Half Triathlon on June 21-23, 2013.
• National Softball Association – Girls’ Fast pitch World Series on July 21-28, 2013.

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

The Smith River Sports Complex near Martinsville will host the Pomerstone Lacrosse Classic, a College Club Women's Lacrosse event bringing in teams from across the United States on April 12-14, 2013. The complex will also will play host to the USA Ultimate Atlantic Coast College Regional's (April 27-28), bringing in teams from all over the East Coast. A number of other Lacrosse, Ultimate, and Soccer events will also take place in 2013.

Martinsville has hosted several new, fun and innovative foot races in the past two years and in 2013 all seven races are being tied together into a challenge series called Miles in Martinsville. The series was created to support outreach programs of the Martinsville-Henry County Family YMCA and Activate MHC.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Loudoun County will host several new sporting events in 2013 including:

• Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) North East Regional Championships – July 17-21, 2013.
• US Figure Skating Eastern Sectional Skating Championships – November 19, 2013.

STATEWIDE

Looking Ahead to Major Sporting Events in 2015: 

• World Road Cycling Championships Coming to Richmond in 2015
  Cycling's pinnacle event, the 2015 World Road Championships will take place September 19 - 27 and will feature 12 races for elite men and women, men under 23 and junior men and women.
• World Police and Fire Games Celebrates 30^th Anniversary in Fairfax in 2015
  Fairfax Virginia will host the 30th anniversary of this prestigious event that gives first responders from more than 65 countries around the globe the chance to showcase their athletic abilities.
• AAU Junior Olympic Games Return to Hampton Roads in 2015
  The AAU Junior Olympics will return to Hampton Roads for the 5th time in July 2015. Approximately 15,000 athletes from across the United States will return to Hampton Roads to participate in the ten day event. Billed as one of the largest amateur multi-sport events for youth in the country, the 10-day series encompasses 20 sports in all.