GW to host sport tourism conference
The Institute of Tourism Studies and the business school’s sports management program will sponsor Teams ’98, a conference and expo on sport tourism at the Marriott Hotel at Metro Center Sept. 17-19.
Teams ’98 is dedicated to the industry that has come to be known as sport tourism, which includes travel to play and watch sports and to recreational attractions. The conference will feature experts from sport and travel industries and will address the issues that accompany the growing industry.
The cost to attend the conference is $355 for non-students and $195 for students. The conference will be open to the public Sept. 17 from 3-6 p.m. and Sept. 19 from 1-5 p.m.
Two more recruits join GW men’s basketball
The GW men’s basketball program, which had four seniors graduate and lost junior J.J. Brade because of academic problems, received commitments from two more recruits this summer.
Freshman Jason Smith follows fellow recruit Albert Roma to GW from the Winchendon School in Boston, Mass. The 6-8 forward averaged 13 points and seven rebounds as a senior in high school.
Andry Sola, a 6-7 swingman, also will join the team. The freshman from Ontario, Canada, averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds as a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School.
Smith earns scholarship from NCAA
Former GW women’s soccer star Chemar Smith was one of 12 recipients of a postgraduate scholarship through the NCAA’s Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee.
The scholarship is designed to help minority applicants who have completed undergraduate degrees to continue their study in a sports-related program. Smith, who earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from GW, will study physical therapy in graduate school.
Smith graduated in 1997 and holds school records for most points and goals in a career. The four-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team selection helped the Colonial women make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1996.
GW picked second in A-10 soccer
The GW women’s soccer team was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 in 1998 in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.
Massachusetts, which posted a perfect league record of 11-0 last season, was picked to finish first again this season. The Minutewomen also are ranked as high as 22nd in the nation in one poll.
The Colonial women went 13-6-2 overall last season and finished in second place in the A-10 with a record of 9-2. The team lost to UMass in the A-10 final to narrowly miss a second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
GW kicks off its season Sept. 1 at home when it faces the nationally-ranked University of Virginia.
-Dustin Gouker
