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Tourism & Team building around the state and beyond. In fact, their most recent success story involves an athlete who made his way from Alaska to the National Football League via Green Bay. "He played for the Blizzard last year, came in and trained with us over this past winter and just signed a contract with the New York Jets," says Smith, describing defensive tackle Junior Aumavae. Win-win for tourism Whether visitors are coming to Northeast Wisconsin to play, watch or just enjoy the athletic atmosphere, sports tourism scores big for the economy all around. "In the Fox Cities we work with over 100 sporting events annually," says Matt Ten Haken, sports sales manager for the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau. "That leads to roughly over 4 million direct visitors each year." Ten Haken "The culture of youth sports in America is drastically changing to a more competitive model at a younger age. We're seeing families put their traditional family vacations on the back burner and instead spend every weekend of their season travelling across the Midwest to play in tournaments." –Matt Ten Haken, Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau spor ts and sales manager says those visitors typically travel distances stretching from Chicago to the Upper Peninsula. To get an idea of how that traffic translates to economic dollars, tourism officials estimate that WIAA girls' basketball fans spent about $3 million between buzzers over the tournament weekend in Green Bay last March. By all indications, sports tourism is on a drive that's gaining momentum. "The culture of youth sports in America is drastically changing to a more competitive model at a younger age," Ten Haken explains. "We're seeing families put their traditional family vacations on the back burner and instead spend every weekend of their season travelling across the Midwest to play in tournaments. We're drawing more teams from greater distances, especially in youth team sports." Visit our NEW Outlet Store A WHOLE new shopping experience. Located in Goodwill's Shiner Center 1341 W. Spencer St. Appleton, WI (Enter off Outagamie Street) e the bargains . You choos nd pay by the pou and then 30 | Insight • M ay 2 013 goodwillncw. org w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m