Site Visit Summary #2: Georgia Tech/Georgia Dome

On November 2, 2010, our Sports Administration class took a trip to the Georgia Tech Student Rec. Center as well as the Georgia Dome. The bus departed around 9:30 a.m. and we were headed first to Georgia Tech. I must say that my jaw dropped when we pulled in the parking lot of the Rec. Center. This place is unbelievable! It was home to the 1996 Summer Olympics swimming/diving competitions. With that being said they had three pools, a diving pool, and even a lazy river with a slide. The place also has an incredible amount of workout equipment including a rock wall. Above the pool/diving area are the basketball courts and the indoor soccer/hockey field. The tour guide told us about a kid who kicked a basketball and it hit a sprinkler eventually causing a flooding and it totaled to about $1,000,000 in damages. He also told us that they do not offer graduate assistantships, but they do offer internships. He told us that he is the contact we need if we are interested in obtaining an internship at the Rec. Center.

After we left Georgia Tech we went to lunch at the CNN Center. The Georgia Dome is right next door to the CNN Center. Wally was our tour guide at the Dome. We got to see more than I could ever have possibly imagined. He showed us the "ins and the outs" of the stadium. We got to see everything from the SuperSuites to the Falcons locker room. The field itself was not painted because they had a Georgia State football game and a motivational speaker seminar over the weekend. It was pretty cool seeing them clean the turf and wipe off the college hash marks to prepare for Sunday afternoon's home Falcons game. The only thing that I was disappointed with was the fact that the field/stadium was not prepared for a Falcon's game. The endzones and half line were not painted, the goal posts were not up, and the locker room had no name plates or chairs out. Other than that, this trip was awesome. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I would just like to thank Dr. Epling for allowing us to go.

Estarr10