York County tourism official part of SC delegation to NCAA headquarters

This week, a ten-member delegation from South Carolina travels to Indianapolis to re-introduce the Palmetto State to the NCAA.

The league recently dropped its ban on holding championships in South Carolina after state lawmakers voted to removed the controversial Confederate battle flag from the statehouse.

The ban, in place for more than a decade, excluded South Carolina from bidding on major NCAA events until July 10.

Wednesday, representatives from South Carolina’s tourism industry spend the day with NCAA president Mark Emmert, signaling South Carolina cities’ intentions to participate in the next bidding process.

“[The NCAA] doesn’t really know who we are and don’t really know who the stakeholders are in the state,” said Auvis Cole, Sports Tourism sales manager for the Rock Hill-York County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Cole, who spends much of the year traveling to sports conferences and tourism events, will be a part of that South Carolina team.

Wednesday’s trip “opens up so many things for the county, the city and the whole region,” Cole said. “From a business standpoint, it opens up a client base…that the NCAA is not used to and our community is not used to.”

Venues like the Winthrop Coliseum and farm complex, the Rock Hill Outdoor Center and Manchester Meadows, also in Rock Hill, may soon be on the table for bidding future NCAA championship events.

While the bidding process is closed for this year, Cole says that will give local tourism leaders time to develop long-term plans.

“This allows us time to make sure we have all our ducks in a row and make sure from an infrastructure standpoint everything is in place. So when that bidding process opens up next year, we’ll be ready.”