AAU Honolulu Grand Prix, February 18-20th, tournament and championships to be held on SnapSports patented 50-50 ShockTower athletic courts. The Hawaii Convention Centre will host the Grand Prix, a premier volleyball tournament featuring girls teams ages 12-18.
The first annual AAU Honolulu Grand Prix will be held at The Hawaii Convention Centre in Honolulu.
This premier volleyball tournament will take place on 26 full size championship courts (9,000 square metres) comprised of SnapSports’ 50-50 ShockTower surfacing and culminate on the centre Championship court floored with 6000 square feet of SnapSports’ Maple TuffShield® with ShockTower technology.
“We are excited to have our product chosen for the championship courts for AAU’s Honolulu Grand Prix. SnapSports’ patented athletic surfaces are engineered for athlete performance and protection throughout play of ANY sport, at any level. We are ecstatic to be a part of this inaugural tournament and are looking forward to helping it grow for years to come.” – Jorgen Moller, SnapSports CEO
The three day AAU Honolulu Grand Prix will feature girls’ teams aged 12-18. The tournament will kick off with two days of pool play followed by bracket play on Monday, February 20th. Winners will receive a free entry into the AAU National Championships in Orlando, Florida, the West Coast Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, or the Volleyball Festival in Phoenix, AZ, all set to take place later this year.
As a first time host of the event, the Hawaii Convention Centre purchased 90,000 square feet (8,400 square metres) of SnapSports’ 50-50 ShockTower and 6,000 square feet (560 square metres) of MapleTuffShield ShockTower for the 26 volleyball courts needed for the AAU Honolulu Grand Prix.
The courts can also be used as 16 full sized basketball courts for future events.
SnapSports athletic surfaces are engineered to accommodate any sport at any level of competition while guaranteeing to keep athletes of all ages safe.
The patented ShockTower feature chosen by the Hawaii Convention Centre provides a built in shock absorption system to ease impact on athlete joints: no time consuming installation of rubber underlayment needed, saving time and labour for tournament set up and tear down.
The usage of the courts support the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s sports marketing efforts to attract more global amateur and professional events to the State.
In addition to volleyball and basketball, HCC’s sports courts can accommodate tournaments and events for badminton, basketball. futsal, wresting, gymnastics, martial arts, dance, cheerleading, group fitness activities and table tennis. Elevated seating can be added for spectators.
HCC’s sports courts provides the Meet Hawai‘i sales team with the capability to strategically capitalise on the lucrative sports events market with group events, while positioning HCC as the State’s newest venue to attract events, teams and fans from domestic and international markets.
Already the investment is paying off according to Teri Orton, Hawaii Convention Centre general manager. Orton says the new courts cost little more than a million dollars, but thanks in part to a volleyball tournament featuring dozens of teams from here and the mainland happening this weekend, they’re already paying for themselves.
“With these two tournaments that we put on the books in the last 12 months, we’ve already generated more than $1.3 million in tax revenue, so in essence, we’ve kind of payback the courts in the first year,” Orton said.
New million-dollar sports venture already paying off for Hawaii
About AAU:
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest, non-profit, volunteer, sports organisations in the United States. A multi-sport organisation, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.
