An Alabama Independent School Association tournament that would pit the top two teams in each of three divisions may be headed for Troy this November.

Wednesday, a decision is expected on the issue.

Thanks to efforts by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, city officials and Troy State University, the AISA is eying Troy closely as one of two potential sites for the championship match-up which would be a scaled down version of the state public school playoffs.

The all-day event would bring tremendous short-term economic benefits to the city and to city retailers, motels, restaurants and fuel stations, just to name a few, but there the benefits don’t stop there.

The tournament would provide Troy State University to make an indelible impression on the minds of thousands of students throughout the state, including athletes that could potentially be recruited to TSU.

Furthermore, a warm and friendly atmosphere is something we know those visitors will find here, and this could have the effect of bringing more of these kinds of events to Troy.

Thanks to the university, we certainly have a jump on most other communities when it comes to facilities – whether for athletics or for meetings and other gatherings.

The things that make Troy attractive are that it would provide neutral ground for such an event and the facilities here can’t be beat by any other locations except Tuscaloosa and Auburn.

Troy is in the running with Selma as officials get serious about making a decision. Some officials are leaning toward Troy because many of the schools that consistently perform well in football are from the Selma area, giving them somewhat of a "home-field advantage." Troy also boasts better facilities than Selma for an event of this magnitude.

On the other hand, Selma is more centrally located.

Weighing out those considerations, we hope AISA officials will decide to come here. After all, we want them and have the goods to back us up – a beautiful and large stadium for state championship games.

We thank the Chamber of Commerce and its Tourism Committee for working so hard to recruit this event to Troy. We hope their efforts are rewarded handsomely by an AISA decision to come to Troy.

June 13, 2000 10 PM  

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