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spring 2015 / 7
COMMUNITY NEWS
BSC IN THE NEWS
College alum driving force behind
Birmingham’s bid for World Games
David
Benck ’90
is thrilled
about the
World
Games
coming to
Birmingham
in 2021—
after all,
he’s one of the lead organizers of the
city’s successful bid for the games. But
he’s even more enthusiastic about
what could happen afterwards, once
Birmingham proves it can handle a
large-scale international event with
hundreds of thousands of visitors and
shine in the global spotlight.
“Hopefully, it will be a catalyst for
great things,” said Benck, who helped
the city beat out competing bids from
Lima, Peru, and Ufa, Russia. “I’m
most excited about getting to show the
world Birmingham—where it is today
and where it’s going to be in six years.
Our city has so much to offer.”
Benck, vice president and general
counsel for Hibbett Sports, has long
been passionate about sports’ ability
to unify people. He has served on USA
Gymnastics’ Ethics, Grievance, and Safe
Sport Committee and was named to
that group’s board of directors in 2013.
He also has extensive experience as an
international arbiter in athletics and
other areas.
But he didn’t know much about
the World Games until he and his
wife joined Scott Myers, the executive
director of the Alabama Sports
Hall of Fame, on a just-for-fun trip
to the 2013 World Games in Cali,
Colombia. Suddenly, they were sold
on the idea of a Birmingham bid for
the games, which is operated under
the patronage of the International
Olympic Committee and bills itself as
the world’s second-largest international
multi-sport event.
“There was tremendous community
pride and excitement,” Benck said.
“The Colombians were very welcoming
and hospitable; it reminded us of the
southern hospitality in Birmingham,
but Scott and I recognized that
Birmingham’s venues would far
surpass what most other cities around
the world could provide.”
When they returned, they reached
out to Edgar Welden, a long-time
Birmingham community leader, who
brought the city, state, and business
communities together. They partnered
with the U.S. Olympic Committee,
which selected Birmingham as the only
city in the country allowed to bid on
the event.
What really made it possible was the
cooperation of Birmingham-Southern,
UAB, and Samford, Benck said. The
three campuses made up the core
of the city’s bid, with each hosting a
potential range of events and acting as
separate athlete villages.
For example, Benck said, athletes
housed at BSC might compete at
the Birmingham Metro CrossPlex, at
Legion Field, or at venues on campus.
Teams staying at UAB could compete
at the BJCC or other in-town facilities,
and Samford could host athletes with
events on campus and at over-the-
mountain locations like Oak Mountain
State Park. A transportation system
will connect all three, and there is
plenty of housing for international
federations and fans nearby.
“We were able to pitch something
completely unique to the World
Games,” he said.
The committee and city estimates
it will cost about $75 million to
host the games, through cash and
in-kind contributions, such as BSC’s
contribution of its facilities—but that
the economic impact could be more
than $250 million. The Colombia
games drew 500,000 spectators
and about 4,000 athletes from 100
countries.
And although some Americans
have scoffed at the types of sport on
offer—who’s ever heard of korfball
anyway?—Benck points out that the
World Games are host to all of the
sports knocking on the door of the
Olympics. Some modern additions to
the Olympic Games, such as triathlon,
trampoline, and taekwondo, were
World Games sports first, and softball
recently moved from Olympic play to
the World Games.
Plus, seeing the global enthusiasm
for sports that Americans may not be
familiar with is exhilarating, Benck
said. At the event in Colombia, fans
packed stadiums for competitive
dancing, sumo wrestling, and in-line
hockey and figure skating.
“All of them have their following
and it’s the smaller ones who have
already reached out to us,” he
said. “They’re so excited that this is
happening in the U.S. and they get to
show everybody their sport.”
That kind of cross-cultural exchange
is what makes the games so exciting for
Benck. He sees it as a chance not just
to show off Birmingham to the world,
but to bring the world to Birmingham.
Each country’s athletes and delegations
will need hosts, sponsors, drivers, and
more. He said Birmingham-Southern
students, especially, will find the
opportunity to practice their languages
and make connections that could carry
them into a new career.
Benck, who studied economics on
the Hilltop and earned his J.D. at the
University of Alabama School of Law,
credits his own travels while a BSC
student to Australia, New Zealand,
China, and Taiwan as giving him
much-needed exposure to the world.
Bringing the World Games to town will
open up that opportunity to college,
high school, and elementary students
who might otherwise not have that
experience.
“The true inspiration is what
an event like this can produce for
Birmingham’s youth—to participate
in a global event, with hundreds of
countries coming to Birmingham,
and to learn, network, and experience
global cultures,” he said. “The
opportunities will be numerous.”