Charlotte Has A Vibrant Sports Culture
Posted on July 3, 2012 by James Stewart Jr
Charlotte’s city council approved giving funding to the new Knights Stadium last month and with that vote I have been included in discussions with friends about Charlotte’s sporting community. The discussion usually goes similar to the following.
Friend: ”Did you hear the Knights Stadium will be built uptown? Finally within Charlotte there is more than the Panthers, Bobcats, and Checkers to watch.” Me: ”The Knights were near Charlotte before this new stadium and there are other sporting teams in Charlotte besides those three.” Friend: ”Of course, the Knights were here. However, now I don’t have to spend a whole day waiting on a game and now there are four!”
“Spend a whole day waiting” is code for enjoying adult beverages before the game. I am glad they are responsible and choose to not drink and drive. Maybe it is because we are young that they focus on drinking and not driving as a benefit to watching the Knights. Usually after this intro, I start on a rant about the assortment of Charlotte club and professional sporting teams that include more than these four. Here I share some of those teams.
Professional Teams and Clubs
Charlotte consists of many different types of sporting options and one of the most prevalent on this blog is cycling. There are cycling events occurring weekly during the summer in North Carolina. However, if cycling is not your cup of tea there are other sports on wheels. The Charlotte Roller Girls who have been around for years became part of Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) last year. The league has over 100 teams throughout the world and Charlotte has two teams, All-Stars and B-Dazzlers. The All-Stars are the experienced athletes and the B-Dazzlers are the amateur team. I find it a positive sign that the community is strong enough in Charlotte to support two levels skills for the players. There are plenty of bouts left at the Grady Cole Center this year and if you do not know about the sport try to educate yourself.
This year is the first season of the Charlotte Hounds and as a major league lacrosse team they are one of eight teams in the nation. The name was chosen by fans last year and even though they have a losing record they are better than the league’s other new team Ohio Machine. It seems we are in a growing year in multiple Charlotte sports. Here’s something of note their name comes from the Plott Hound which is North Carolina’s state dog. There are two more home games held in Memorial Stadium this season. One will be this July 7th.
Intramural Sports
I think its important to show that we not only have many different sports to watch, but Charlotte has a lot of sporting activities to be involved in as well. For many years intramural sports in Charlotte have been organized by SportsLink. It has over 22,000 members, which is over 2% of the city’s population, in 9 different sports ranging from basketball to more obscure sports such as ultimate frisbee. Less organized, but no less fun sports such as rafting and rock climbing can be found at the U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC). A day at USNWC is at most $54.
Summer is here so before waiting on the seasons of large sporting teams such as the Knights. We can get involved in or support our smaller teams and less mainstream sport franchises.
