Press Release: Interview about Football University

Football University Top Gun Interview
April 7, 2011

From the producers of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and Football University (FBU), the nation's premier football training camp, FBU Top Gun will bring the nation's top 1,000+ athletes in grades 6 - 11 to Williamsburg, VA.  Participating athletes are hand-selected by our NFL coaches from FBU's 40 regional camps.  At the heart of FBU Top Gun is its elite instructional staff made up of former NFL coaches and NFL athletes, who will spend three days with these elite athletes at Top Gun.  Almost all of the instructors currently coach, play, or train top NFL and college athletes.  Now entering its fourth year, FBU Top Gun will feature the next generation of football talent, including future U.S. Army All-Americans, college stars, and NFL stars.  For additional information, visit FootballUniversity.org. 
 

From James City County and Sports Williamsburg:

1. What was the process like in getting Top Gun to come back to Williamsburg?

Sports Williamsburg, a committee of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance, James City County and its Parks and Recreation Department worked closely together to secure this group for the destination.  The history of having the event here in 2010 provided us with expectations for the group and the experience it provided for the participants. 

2. Are there any ways in which this year may be different from previous years? Have things improved or has anything been learned in hosting this camp? 

This year, Football University will have access to Warhill High School for classroom sessions, which will reduce some logistical challenges and expenses compared to 2010.  The Alliance and Sports Williamsburg have developed a special web landing page for participants in Football University to help link them to destination attractions, dining, group dining and local special offers as well as the new Alliance mobile site.  Football University will offer links to this site from their webpage to help promote the overall destination experience. 

3. What type of exposure does this give Williamsburg/James City?

In terms of direct exposure, every group that comes to the Historic Triangle offers increased awareness to the many individuals and their family members for our destination.  While the focus of their visit is the Top Gun event, we hope that all of the participants will take advantage of the local attractions and other tourism experiences available in our destination and will return to visit again as well as encourage others to visit.  Football University has provided projections that families of 1,200+ athletes will attend this year's Top Gun event.  As part of its marketing plan, Top Gun press information identifying our destination is provided to the hometown media of the top athletes invited to participate in this event, and coverage of the event is generated in sports media as well.

4. Why did James City feel that Top Gun Football University belonged here?

The number one driving factor for an event such as this is the facilities. Warhill Sports Complex has six synthetic fields and a stadium with synthetic turf in one park thus making it the perfect venue for this camp. There are only a few venues in the United States that have these amenities together in one park, so that fact coupled with our wonderful local attractions such as Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and Water Country, among many others, make our location most attractive. Last year, many camp participants brought their families along confirming that our location and attractions provide the "icing on the cake".

5. In the past, what has been the reaction from the camp directors, athletes, and the community and its businesses?

The County received feedback that indicated that last year's event went well and the participants were happy, The Alliance received a number of anecdotal reports from members such as restaurants that they saw individual and group visits related to the Top Gun event.  The camp coincided with a heat wave last year, so we will hope for better weather. We are both confident that the economic impact of families staying here, eating, and shopping was positive for the community.

6. How do you feel that this may impact tourism this year? Better or worse than last?

Football University is projecting a total of 1,450 participants in Top Gun this year.  That number includes athletes, coaches, and staff and they estimate that 1,250 of the participants will come from outside the state. They are also estimating a total of 3,000 spectators, more than 90% from outside the area, with a corresponding projection of 5,000 room nights.

Those projections were submitted by Football University when applying to Sports Williamsburg for a sports event grant, which has been approved for 2011. 

7. What is your department doing to prepare for the camp's arrival in June [please note, Top Gun is in July], if anything?

The James City County Parks facility coordinator has meet with event officials and completed a site visit including coordinating emergency services and school use.

Sports Williamsburg is working to continually develop web content that will enhance the experience of Top Gun participants and family members while in our area.  Members of Sports Williamsburg are also putting together welcome bags that include both area information and special offers available to the participating athletes, coaches and their families.

8. If the camp chose not to come back, what kind of impact would that have on your department and James City County?

James City County is seeing a growing interest in its facilities. Over the years, the County has added playing fields and word of mouth from those that play here has generated interest.  The number of tournaments the county is hosting is increasing as Sports Williamsburg continues its marketing push.  The time of the Top Gun event is one of the busiest weeks of the year for our destination, but we hope to not lose any guests during this week or any other.  If Top Gun would choose to not return, we may find that new opportunities will minimize any financial impact.

Sports Williamsburg continues to solicit leads from additional sports group opportunities, and has consequently generated more than 90,000 sports-related room leads for the destination in the past seven months.

9. What sort of impact does the camp have on the Alliance alone?

The Alliance and Sports Williamsburg continue to enjoy working with Top Gun and all of the sports groups that come to our area by providing tourism information that will make the visit an excellent experience.  Having events such as Top Gun select our destination reinforces our experience and credibility as a destination that is adept at successfully hosting major sports events.  It is another great asset to point to as we continually solicit other sports events for the destination.