Major League Figure Skating Championships Awarded to Central Floridas Polk County

Major League Figure Skating CEO and Founder Jon Rubin announced Friday that Polk County has been selected to host both the Olympic Eligible and Professional Levels of Major League Figure Skating (MLFS) 2004 United States National Invitational Championships. The event, recruited by Polk County Sports Marketing, will bring an estimated $1.5 million in economic impact to the area June 3-6 while being held at The Lakeland Center.

Polk County, FL (PRWEB) December 12, 2003 --Major League Figure Skating CEO and Founder Jon Rubin announced Friday that Polk County has been selected to host both the Olympic Eligible and Professional Levels of Major League Figure Skating (MLFS) 2004 United States National Invitational Championships. The event, recruited by Polk County Sports Marketing, will bring an estimated $1.5 million in economic impact to the area June 3-6 while being held at The Lakeland Center. Polk County offered us the best location for our event," said Rubin, The Lakeland Center is a beautiful facility that meets all of our needs and Polk County has so much to offer in hosting our event."

Lakeland was selected over three other Florida cities in the final selection process. A total of 12 teams, 8 Olympic Eligible" and 4 Professional teams from around the country will be seeded and put into brackets for the two tournaments. The teams will be competing for a total purse of $25,000 in prize money and there are also plans to televise the event. We are very pleased to host the 2004 US National Invitational Tournament. Figure Skating is a very popular sport and we are excited to see it coming to Polk County," said Polk County Sports Marketing Director Mark Jackson.

Major League Figure Skating (MLFS) is a new organization that was organized to create additional competitive opportunities for both Professional and Olympic Eligible Skaters. Over 9 years ago, MLFSs founder Jon Rubin realized that almost 90% of competitive figure skaters drop out of the sport due to the lack of collegiate and professional opportunities. Rubin stated, Just about every major sport in the world that offers their athletes a viable way to both make a living and continue to compete, operate team-based leagues at either the college and/or professional level." Rubin set out to create a variation of the sport. The result was a format that provides an exciting, fast paced, head-to-head team based event that work well at both the collegiate and professional levels.

Overall, MLFS is the result of nine years of fine-tuning with the input of many. Those that have contributed to this effort include several former US Olympic team members, officials from several different skating federations and other skating organizations including the Ice Skating Institute, together with other elite skaters, coaches and fans. It is nice to see it all come together after all these years of hard work, and be able to present this exciting event at the Lakeland Center." said Rubin.

For more information on the MLFS 2004 US National Invitational Tournament visit Major League Figure Skating on the web at www.MLFSkating.com.

An initiative of the Polk County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Sports Marketing is responsible for recruiting sporting events to Polk County and marketing the county as a venue for competitive sporting events and recreational sports such as golf, tennis, bicycling and water skiing/boating. During the past year, more than 140 PCSM-assisted events generated in excess of $80 million in economic benefits for Polk County. In recognition of this and other accomplishments, the Florida Sports Foundation honored PCSM with its coveted Sports Commission of the Year" award in 2002. General information on sports in Polk County can be found by visiting the PCSM website at www.centralfloridasports.com.
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