Looking for Champions--2004 U. S. Pizza Team Trials Begin in Los Angeles

Selection for the 2004 U.S. Pizza Team begins in Los Angeles Aug. 3-4 at the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The winners of the three competitions will earn a trip to Italy to compete in the World Pizza Championship.

Oxford, Miss.-Beginning on Aug. 3, 2003, the U.S. Pizza Team Acrobatic Trials will take place at the Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Contestants from all over the country will compete for a spot on the U.S. Pizza Team at this convention. If selected as members of the team, they will earn an all-expense paid trip to the World Pizza Championship (WPC) in Salsomaggiore, Italy next March.

The Acrobatic Trials are divided into three categories: Largest Dough Stretch, Fastest Pizza Maker and Freestyle Pizza Tossing.

The Largest Dough Stretch competition, which will be held at 1 p.m. on Aug. 3, determines which contestant can hand stretch or toss one 17-ounce dough ball to the maximum size without tearing the dough. A five-minute time limit is given to all contestants.

Brian Edler, who owns four Domino's franchises in Ohio and Michigan, was a part of the 2003 team and competed in the largest dough stretch at the WPC. Edler placed third in the world in this division and was the first American to ever place in the event. Edler will be competing at the 2004 trials for a return trip to Italy.

"After I won a spot on the U.S. team, I had three front page articles in the papers," Edler said. Within a week we got busier than I expected. I was also invited to be on the "Best Damned Sports Show Period" with Tony Gemignani (U.S. Pizza Team Coach and five-time world pizza dough tossing champion).

That generated a lot of interest and also got me a free trip to California. Domino's has also done a good job of publicizing it. So far, I have seen increases in sales and have had my church and a couple of schools contact me about coming out and doing demonstrations. I have even gotten media calls from as far away as Florida."

In the Fastest Pizza Maker contest, taking place on Aug. 4 at 1 p.m., participants start with five 7-ounce dough balls. The dough is stretched to cover five 12-inch screens. The judges will determine the winner by the contestant who covers the screens in the shortest time. Michael Shepherd, owner of Michael Angelos Pizzeria in Kenton, Ohio, placed fifth in this category in April at the WPC. He will also be competing in Los Angeles.

The last contest of the U.S. Pizza Team trials is the Freestyle Pizza Tossing. This competition holds the most difficulty. It will be held immediately following the fastest pizza maker contest on Aug. 4. Contestants are required to perform a two to four-minute throwing routine set to music using five 14-ounce dough balls. Three judges will judge the performances on a ten-point scale.

The throwing routine criteria for judging include creativity, variety, dexterity and difficulty of routine. Tony Gemignani has won the world title in this division and serves as the U.S. Pizza Team coach.

Gemignanis winning many world championships has drawn much national attention. He has made appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Real TV, Good Morning America, the Food Network, The Howie Mandel Show, CNN and ESPN. He has been asked to do promotions for Disney, Precious Cheese, Sorrento Cheese, and Foremost Farms PZ44 as well appearing in many commercials.

Trying to throw a pizza is like trying to toss wet beach towels in the air," Gemignani said. I used to take two wet beach towels, cut them up into 16-inch circles, and its like tossing a real pizza. "Everything took off (after those competitions)," Gemignani said. "It put Castro Valley on the map because it has the world's greatest pizza thrower."

The U.S. Pizza Team is an effort on the part of industry leaders to bring publicity to the pizza industry and the people who make it. The U.S. Pizza Team will be featured on the Food Network in the near future, as the network is finishing up a special filmed earlier this year at the World Pizza Championship.

For more information on the U.S. Pizza Team, please visit www.uspizzateam.com and www.worldpizzachampionship.com. Many photographs, stories and video clips are available at these websites.

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***Editors Note: Pictures are available by email and print. Please call or email if you are interested in photographs.