Augusta Sports Council President Frank Gibbs, Jr. is training for his first Ironman 70.3 triathlon. Frank will compete in the ESi Ironman 70.3 Augusta on September 26, 2010. In his weekly blog, "Ironman Frank" will share his experiences leading up to his first competition, as well as basic guidelines and training tips for other first-time triathletes. An Ironman 70.3 encompasses 70.3 total miles of racing – a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run. For more information about the ESi Ironman 70.3 Augusta, visit IronmanAugusta.com.

Hello, I’m Frank Gibbs, Jr. and I am the current president of the Augusta Sports Council. This blog will track my training for the 2nd annual Ironman 70.3 that the Sports Council brings to town. Last year we had over 3,000 entries and hope to have even more this year with the excitement of last year’s success.

I have done some internet research on this quest, and boy, are there a lot of brave souls out there participating in this sport! The training will be steady until September so we are in for a long, hot summer. This will be my first attempt at something like this, so please e-mail me with any suggestions!

I started taking a circuit training class a couple of years ago when I weighed 195 lbs. Today’s weight is 179 so things have gone well so far. I have a closet full of 36 waist and XL shirts collecting dust! You know, when you start out on a mission and continue to do it and see the results it’s a pretty cool thing. I ran my first 5K last year, the Heart & Sole, and finished in 26:50. Last week, I ran the 2010 Heart & Sole 5K. There were 834 entries and I finished 70th with a time of 24:45, so I shaved off two minutes from last year. In the past I’ve also run the Swamp Stomp 5K, and last year decided to take it to the next level and run the Augusta Half Marathon. I finished the Half in 2:05, so I have a few goals now to better those times each year. This Saturday I am participating in The Family Y Cloverleaf Duathlon (2 mile run / 10 mile bike / 2 mile run). This is my first duathlon, so check back next week and I’ll share the results.

Training for your first half Ironman is not cheap, especially if you don’t already have the right equipment. I have gotten a few sponsors to assist me in the purchase of my gear. I’d like to thank Ricks Paint & Body, Augusta Pet Crematory, Truck & Moore and Andy Jordan’s Bicycle Warehouse for their generosity.

We’ll chat next week,
Frank

The Swim Champions Fitter & Faster Tour will make a stop at the Augusta Aquatic Center on Sunday, May 23, 2010. The Fitter & Faster Tour is a unique opportunity for swimmers ages 5-18 to meet and learn from Olympic medalists and world champions. Athletes scheduled to appear at the Augusta event include US Olympic Gold Medalist Misty Hyman, US Olympic medalist Maritza Correia, the first African-American female to make the US Olympic Team, and Olympic medalist and 2009 World Champion Matt Targett.

The cost for registration is $75 per person. All participants will receive a gift bag with a Speedo t-shirt, event program, TYR swim cap, and samples from companies including Powerbar, UltraSwim and Chocolate #9. For more information or to register online, visit the Fitter & Faster Tour Augusta website.

Triathlon enthusiasts should be happy to know that Augusta and its surrounding communities now have an official triathlon club. TriAugusta is a registered club of USA Triathlon and will be the area’s number one source for Triathlon information. Whether you are looking for a race, a coach to train you or people to train with, TriAugusta is the club to get you on pace.

TriAugusta will be open for memberships during an information session in the evening of March 13, 2010 in the Event Room of Enterprise Mill beginning at 7 PM. If you are interested in becoming a member of TriAugusta or just want to learn more about triathlon in the Augusta area, please join us.

Triathlon is an endurance event consisting of swimming, biking and running done in succession with the athlete having the fastest time being deemed the winner. Triathlon events vary in distances from sprint (16 total miles) to ultra distance (140.6 total miles). Participants are grouped as professional or amateur with the amateurs further grouped by age.

Check out this video from the Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Championships! The Hyperflite Skyhoundz Disc Dogathon will return to Augusta April 17-18, 2010! Visit the Skyhoundz website for more information!

The Southern Professional Hockey League has confirmed that hockey will return to Augusta in the fall of 2010.

At a press conference last week, Commissioner Jim Combs announced the SPHL Board of Governors had unanimously approved the expansion team to begin play in the fall of 2010.  In addition to owner Bob Kerzner, Combs introduced Gilles Richard as the team’s general manager.  Richard is no stranger to the SPHL having served in the same capacity with the Jacksonville Barracudas for four seasons.  Richard twice guided the Barracudas to the President’s Cup Finals, becoming one of only three teams to make multiple appearances in the finals.

“Since we announced this press conference, the League Office has received literally dozens of calls and emails asking about everything from season tickets to team sponsorships,” stated Combs.  “We had expected a positive response, but this is even greater than we could have imagined.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to bring hockey back to Augusta and am very encouraged about the initial positive response from the hockey fans here,” added Richard.  Team owner Bob Kerzner agreed, stating “I am very excited to be able bring hockey back to Augusta.”

The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), now in its sixth season of play, is currently comprised of seven teams: The two-time defending President's Cup Champion Knoxville (TN) Ice Bears, Columbus (GA) Cottonmouths, Fayetteville (NC) FireAntz, Huntsville (AL) Havoc;  (Lafayette) Louisiana IceGators; (Biloxi) Mississippi Surge and Pensacola (FL) Ice Flyers.

The SPHL is conducting a contest to name the new Augusta franchise! Click here to submit your nomination! For more information on the new Augusta franchise and the Southern Professional Hockey League, visit www.thesphl.com.

Augusta Sports Council Executive Director Tammy Stout has been recognized by SportsEvents Magazine with Readers’ Choice Award. Stout will be featured in the January 2010 issue of SportsEvents Magazine as part of “50+ Planners & Places to Watch in 2010.”

The industry professionals profiled in SportsEvents Magazine’s “50+ Planners & Places to Watch in 2010” were nominated by readers of the magazine and by their industry peers. The sports event planners have garnered attention in the industry for their ability to recognize and rise above the various challenges of running sports events, for their innovative and creative approaches to planning and executing sports events, for their ability to inspire others, for their dedication to their jobs, and for their passion for sports.

Stout has served as the Executive Director of the Augusta Sports Council since 1995. Among her many accomplishments, Stout has overseen the successful hosting of regional, national and international sporting events including two Georgia Games Championships, Tour de Georgia, ESi Ironman 70.3 Augusta, and more. In 2008, the Sports Council created the Augusta Half Marathon, an event now sanctioned by USA Track & Field as the Georgia State Championship race. In 2000, Stout was instrumental in the creation and implementation of the Ray Guy Award, awarded annually to the nation’s best collegiate punter. Currently, Stout serves on the board of the National Association of Sports Commissions.

 In addition to being profiled in the special feature, the Stout will receive a certificate with a special “Sports Event Planning Excellence” seal to commemorate her award. To read the special feature, “50+ Planners & Places to Watch in 2010,” and learn about the 2010 honorees of SportsEvents Magazine’s Annual Readers’ Choice Awards, visit www.sportseventsmagazine.com.

The 2010 class of the American Football Kicking Hall of Fame was honored Thursday, January 14 at the All-Area Football Banquet presented by The Augusta Chronicle, WJBF News Channel 6 and the Augusta Sports Council. The American Football Kicking Hall of Fame was created to recognize the individuals who excelled as kickers, to educate the public on the historic contributions of the kicking game, promote the advancement of kickers as strategic playmakers, and provide an arena to honor the players who put the “special” in special teams. This year's class includes Mr. Tom Dempsey, who booted a record-setting 63-yard field goal in 1970, and Mr. Yale Lary, a versatile standout on the Detroit Lions championship teams of the 1950’s and 60’s.

Tom Dempsey was an inspirational NFL player. Despite being born with only half a right foot and no right hand, the tenacious kicker had an 11-season NFL career. Dempsey played defensive end at Palomar Junior College in California before catching on as the New Orleans Saints' kicker and earning a Pro Bowl berth in 1969. The next season, with the seconds winding down in a game against the Detroit Lions, Dempsey's “kick heard 'round the world” shattered the NFL record by some seven yards. Dempsey's 63-yard bomb in the final two seconds of the game gave the Saints a 19-17 win over the Lions on November 8, 1970. The NFL record still stands today, though tied by the Denver Broncos' Jason Elam in 1998. Dempsey was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame in 1989.

Yale Lary, a native Texan and product of Texas A&M is remembered as a standout right safety, a truly great punter and an explosive punt returner. Each assessment is correct, as the multi-talented Lary was all of those things during his 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions. Lary won punting titles in 1959, 1961 and 1963, missing another one in 1962 by just 3.6 inches. From the end zone, Lary could consistently punt past midfield with enough hang time to give the coverage team time to work. Once, Lary had a string of six games and 32 punts with no returns and he had just four blocked of 503 in his career. As a defensive back, Lary was a key contributor for the Lions as they claimed three NFL World Championships in 1952, 1953 and 1957. He was named All-NFL four times, played in nine Pro Bowls and was a member of the All-Decade Team of the 1950s. The Lions selected Lary in the third round of the 1952 NFL Draft. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of fame in 1979.

About Prokicker.com
Prokicker.com is a premier kicking institution committed to providing athletes the best learning opportunities available. Their instructors provide the most comprehensive learning concepts that enable developing kickers to learn quickly, and maintain the sound training and biomechanical principles that will most effectively guide them in performance. Their "positive" teaching approach improves mental discipline, as well as physical skills. Prokicker.com’s visualization and goal-setting methods are designed to build confidence and self-esteem, not only in athletics, but also in every day life.

The Augusta Sports Council announced last night that Georgia’s Drew Butler has won the 2009 Ray Guy Award, which is given annually to the top collegiate punter. The award was presented during the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show. The Bulldog sophomore beat out Michigan’s Zoltan Mesko, and Chas Henry of Florida to take the honor.

 The award caps a remarkable year for the Bulldog standout. Butler, who has led the NCAA in gross punting yardage for a great portion of the season, was named a Walter Camp All-American. Earlier, he was named a midseason All-America first team selection by Sporting News and Phil Steele. Additionally, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, and also was recognized twice as the “Punter Performer of the Week” by CollegeFootballPerformance.com.

 This season Butler punted 50 times, with 17 downed inside the opponent’s 20-yeard line and nine fair catches. He had a long punt of 75-yards in the season opener against Oklahoma State. With a net punting average of 42.8-yards he guided Georgia to the top team net ranking in the NCAA. He had no blocked punts during the regular season. Georgia’s 2009 season will end on December 28 when the Bulldogs take on Texas A & M in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The Augusta Sports Council has named the finalists for the 2009 Ray Guy Award for top collegiate punter. The three athletes were selected by a national voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) coaches, sports information directors, national media, and former Ray Guy Award winners. The voters will cast a second round of ballots to decide the winner.

This year’s finalists are (in alphabetical order):

Drew Butler (So.) Georgia
Currently leads the NCAA in gross punting average, as the Georgia Bulldogs lead in team net punting. Named midseason All America first team selection by Sporting News and Phil Steele. Had a long punt of 75-yards against Oklahoma State.

Chas Henry (Jr.) Florida
The Week 10 SEC Special Teams Player of the Week has led the Gators to a third-place NCAA ranking in team net punting. Has dropped 12 punts inside the 20-yard line and has 6 punts of 50-yards or more.

Zoltan Mesko (Sr.) Michigan
The 2009 preseason first team All American has led the Michigan Wolverines a second-place standing in team net average. The four-year starter is Michigan’s all-time career leader in both punts and punting yardage.

Ray Guy Award voters evaluated the punters on their overall statistics and contribution to the team. Particular emphasis was placed on the following statistics: net average, percentage of total punts inside the 20-yard line, and percentage of punts not returned. Georgia, Michigan, and Florida currently lead the NCAA in net punting.

The winner of the 10th Ray Guy Award will be announced live on ESPN during the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards show on Thursday, December 10. The winner will again be honored at the CSRA All Area Football Banquet at the Augusta Marriott Hotel and Suites on January 14, 2010.

About the Ray Guy Award
The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Thomson, Georgia-native, College Football Hall of Fame inductee, and arguably football’s greatest punter, Ray Guy. The RGA selection committee evaluates the nominees overall statistics and contribution to their team to identify the semi-finalists. Finalists and the winner are selected by the national voting body.

About the Augusta Sports Council
The Augusta Sports Council (ASC) is a 501-c-3 non-profit organization, established in 1992 to market the Augusta-area as a major amateur sports destination. Annually, the Augusta Sports Council attracts, supports, and manages numerous competitions and activities for all levels of participation.

About the National College Football Awards Association
The Ray Guy Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s official Web site, www.NCFAA.org.