AAU JUNIOR OLYMPIC GAMES UP FOR SPORTSTRAVEL AWARD

Tags: National Championship,AAU Junior Olympic Games,Feature

Thousands of elite athletes made their way to Des Moines, Iowa in Aug. 2014 to compete for the gold medal in the AAU Junior Olympic Games – and now the Games are looking to earn a medal of their own.

The AAU Junior Olympic Games were recently selected as a finalist in the 2015 SportsTravel Awards in the category of Best Amateur Multi-Sport or Multi-Discipline Event in the nation. Also making the cut were the 2014 Gay Games 9 (Cleveland and Akron, Ohio), the 2014 USA Gymnastics Championships (Louisville, Ky.), the 2015 All Star Games Cheerleading (Las Vegas) and the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Greensboro, N.C.).

More than 14,000 athletes competed in Des Moines last year and over 30 national records were broken, including a 32-year-old high jump record for 16U athletes that was shattered by Vashti Cunningham (daughter of NFL star Randall Cunningham). A total of 20 sports were represented, including event newcomers 3v3 Soccer and Kung-Fu.

Voting for the 2015 SportsTravel Awards ends on Sept. 15 and winners will be presented at TEAMS ’15 Conference & Expo on Nov. 9-12 in Las Vegas. Click here to cast your vote now.