Legally Bond
Legally Bond
An Interview with Tracy Smith, Empire State Winter Games
In this special Empire State Winter Games episode of Legally Bond, Kim speaks with Tracy Smith, Executive Director of the Adirondack Sports Council. Tracy discusses the mission of the Adirondack Sports Council in promoting sports and driving economic growth in New York. She also talks about the 2025 Empire State Winter Games, which will bring over 2,500 athletes to Lake Placid and surrounding areas to participate in over 20 events.
This year, Bond is a proud sponsor of the ESWG Torch Relay. The torch travels over 700 miles across New York State before arriving in Lake Placid where the athlete of the year lights the cauldron to kick off the start of the games during the opening ceremonies on January 30.
Hello and welcome to Legally Bond, a podcast presented by the law firm Bonshedek King. I'm your host, kim Wolf-Price. On today's episode, we're talking with Tracy Smith, the Executive Director of the Adirondack Sports Council, based in Lake Placid, new York, and, as we're recording at the start of the year, that means it's a very, very busy time for Tracy and her team as they prepare for the 2025 Empire State Winter Games. Hi Tracy, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Hi Kim, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited that you're here, so and pleased that you could join us with how busy I know your team is right now. So my thought for today is we can talk about the work of the Adirondack Sports Council generally, its role in promoting sport, but also promoting New York State and serving as an economic driver for the North Country and beyond. And, of course, let's talk about the Empire State Winter Games. So does that sound like a plan for you that?
Speaker 1:sounds great, Okay, terrific, All right. Well before we do that, the Adirondack Sports Council and the Winter Games. It's tradition on our podcast to ask guests to talk a little bit about themselves so the listeners can get to know who's speaking. So would you mind talking about your background for a bit? Where'd you grow up, go to college, family, anything you'd like to share?
Speaker 2:Great happy to. So it's been quite the journey, Think less straight path, more scenic route, with plenty of wrong turns, which tend to make great stories. But I grew up in well. I was born in Pittsburgh and grew up kind of all over the East Coast. We moved seven times before landing in Louisiana where I went to high school, ultimately got my degree in marketing from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and that's really where I fell in love with working in the sport industry. I was lucky to be part of the first ever sanctioned student recruiting program at LSU for their football team, and so that was a pretty formative experience for me and we'll get into that a little bit more later. But that's where I fell in love with working with sport. I currently live in Lake Placid with my husband and three kids. Well, two of them were formally launched and in college, but Lake Placid is our home base.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic.
Speaker 2:So how did you get to Lake Placid? So my husband's family has been coming here for years for vacation, and when we first met we were living in New York City and Lake Placid became our favorite getaway destination. I fell in love with the area too, and it's rich Olympic history, and about 12 years ago we decided to make the permanent move to Lake Placid and we feel really lucky to live somewhere where other people only get to experience on vacation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's pretty amazing, and I guess I should probably say that Tracy and I actually met many years ago in New York City and, luckily, through kids' careers moves, we've stayed in touch and stayed friends. So I'm really excited to work with you on this project and, of course, to talk to you about what you are doing now. So will you tell us a little bit about your role as Executive Director of the Adirondack Sports Council?
Speaker 2:Sure. So the Adirondack Sports Council mission is to leverage the positive power of sport to inspire sustainable communities and foster growth. So what does that actually mean? We're a nonprofit organization and we combine decades of sport event management and leadership experience and sustainability experience, and we use creative engagement strategies to deliver, you know, world-class sport experiences to communities and organizations across New York State and beyond.
Speaker 1:Really, that's really amazing. I mean, when I read the press release about you taking this role on a couple of years ago, I really did appreciate that focus on sport and then regional growth and development as well. So I went back and found it and it said that you would lead the continued efforts to attract and assist national and international sporting events in the Adirondack region and throughout New York State. This will serve to drive international exposure and interest in New York State and bolster the growth of the state's economy with sustainable employment and business opportunities. That's really pretty amazing. So will you talk a little bit about how sport and these events are economic drivers?
Speaker 2:Sure. So sporting events and competitions serve as huge economic drivers, and the way that they do that is through attracting visitors, which create jobs and bolster local businesses. And the way that they do that is through attracting visitors, which create jobs and bolster local businesses. Sporting events can generate revenue in a lot of ways through ticket sales, sponsorships, merchandise, broadcasting rights, while also promoting tourism to the attendees. And those attendees come and they spend money on accommodations and dining and transportation and shopping all those things that we love to do when we go to a sporting event. This influx of activity stimulates economic growth and can leave a real, lasting impact on the community.
Speaker 1:That's pretty amazing, and these are also community builder events in many ways, aren't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they are. These events bring people together from diverse backgrounds and they create this shared sense of excitement and unity through the collective passion of sport.
Speaker 1:And I love that these are. The Empire State Winter Games, which we'll talk more about, are inclusive. These are also growth and learning experiences for the kids and the participants as well, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think we all get inspired when we watch athletes perform at the highest level. Especially here in Lake Placid, we get so many Olympic athletes that come here to perform and I think this is, you know, inspirational to a lot of people, but particularly to kids. I think we've all had at least one experience like watching the Olympics or some high level hockey game, where you're like, oh my gosh, I just want to be a world-class gymnast, which was me in the eighties, you know watch the.
Speaker 2:Olympics, and I think that's really where the inspiration comes from. You know, most people get involved in sports and sporting events because of that one inspirational moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I mean, I will say, as our family, you know, most of our vacations are actually somehow tied to some type of sporting event. So well, this brings us to, I guess, one of the biggest events that the Adirondack Sports Council has, and that's the Empire State Winter Games. So I guess we should start with the question what are the Empire State Winter Games?
Speaker 2:So they are the largest multi-sport winter event in the country, and so that means that we bring athletes of all ages and abilities, including adaptive athletes and adults, to the region well, really all over New York State to compete.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. So you said adults and kids and they're adaptive. So do you want to talk a little bit more about who participates and what some of the events are?
Speaker 2:For sure. So this year the Empire State Winter Games is expected to draw over 2,500 athletes competing in over 20 events. So that would include ice hockey, which we have both regular and adaptive version. You know all the alpine events are sliding sports, bobsled luge and skeleton, snowshoe, some events you may have never heard of, winter bike, and this year we're adding curling in Utica, new York, which we're super excited about. So yeah, so that's kind of an overview of the Empire State Winter Games, and it grows every year.
Speaker 1:It's amazing, and I think that maybe, if we're in New York State, we take for granted the fact that there is ability to have luge and bobsled events, which are not things that most places can host are they?
Speaker 2:No, they aren't. There are only a few facilities in the world.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Well, how old are the Empire State Winter Games? How long has this been happening?
Speaker 2:So, technically, the first ever Empire State Winter Games took place at Syracuse University and they were in 1978, but those were the summer games and then, after the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, we held the first ever Empire State Winter Games, and so we're in our 45th year now of the Winter Games.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, though that math. I don't enjoy that math, but anyway, as someone who vividly remembers parts of the 80s there, okay, so why are events like this important to New York State and beyond?
Speaker 2:Well. So, for instance, this event in and of itself brings over $10 million in economic impact to the North Country region of New York, but the other thing that it does is it elevates New York State and Lake Placid onto the world stage. So if the state has aspirations to bringing the Olympics back here, this is the way that we do it. We host world-class, high-level events in the state, and that puts us in competition to host bigger events, including the Olympics, in the future.
Speaker 1:It's amazing. Well and you've mentioned this a little bit Listeners might think, of course, when they hear this, that something like this just takes place in Lake Placid. But you mentioned curling will be in Utica and the Empire State Winter Games also have a torch relay which really brings the excitement throughout New York State. So you want to talk a little bit about that torch relay.
Speaker 2:Sure. So the torch relay began this week, actually in Utica, New York, on Wednesday, and we were at the Adirondack Bank Center during the Utica Comets game. And then from there the torch makes a 700-mile journey through Buffalo, Orchard Park, Syracuse, Albany, Canton, we go to Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake and a bunch of smaller towns and villages along the way and ultimately the torch lands here in Lake Placid for the opening ceremony, when the Athlete of the Year will light the torch on January 30th.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to attend. I think this is going to be great. I love the excitement of these events and that communities get involved and it brings people out. It's really pretty amazing and with an event like this, I would imagine attendees like drive from all over, maybe fly in all, come to Lake Placid and there's really such a widespread impact with this.
Speaker 2:Isn't there, there is, there is. I mean, for most kids and adults, this is really their first and only Olympic-like experience. Especially with the opening ceremonies and over 20 sports and athletes coming together in one place at one time. It makes it really really special. Most of our athletes come from New York State, but we do have athletes that are really come from throughout the Northeastern United States and beyond actually to participate, and then some of our athletes from this game will qualify for the state games that are being held at State College in Pennsylvania later this year.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing, and I found out during the process that we actually have a member, a partner at our firm whose kids are both in the Alpine events coming up, oh perfect. Yeah, so it's really pretty amazing and Bond is excited to work with you and sponsor the Torch Relay and work with Community Bank and others. But it's been so much fun to work with your team so I know you're busy that the Empire State Winter Games have a lot. But what's coming up for the Adirondack Sports Council after that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so every year is really different for us, but there are a couple of events that we host annually. So we manage the Adirondack Marathon in Scroon Lake, new York. In the fall we have a Wilmington Whiteface 100K and 50K mountain bike race that happens in June, and this year we're taking over management of the Tupper Lake Tin man Triathlon, which is the oldest race of its kind in the continental US, and in addition to that we support the New York State Olympic Authority with all of their World Cup and World Championship events. And then earlier, actually last year, we were in Utica which is where we fell in love with Utica for the IHF Women's World Championship, which is an ice hockey event that happens all over the world. So really it changes depending on the year and what events are coming, but we like to get involved in as much as we possibly can because we love what we do.
Speaker 1:All right. So that's really exciting, but are there other things on the horizon as well?
Speaker 2:There are actually. Lake Placid was super excited to be named as plan B for the sliding sports for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games that are being held in Milano, cortina, italy. Yeah, that was very exciting. That happened late last year. They are currently rebuilding the sliding track in Cortina, but if it's not completed in time, athletes will come here and compete in Lake Placid. Best case scenario really is that the track gets completed, but we're here to help if it doesn't and certainly, as I mentioned, honored to be selected as the backup plan. We think this showcases what the Olympic Authority does and the enduring Olympic spirit that thrives here in Lake Placid and the state as a whole.
Speaker 1:I agree that's really amazing. Well, of course, we want the best for the host, but it's great to know that Lake Placid is there to help out, like other areas have for other Olympics. Not everything can be held in the same location sometimes, so very exciting. Well, I'm excited to see you at the Torch Relay and to keep working with you, and it's been so exciting to learn more about the Winter Games and then the work of the Adirondack Sports Council. So thanks, tracy, for coming on the podcast. I hope you know, as other big events come up, maybe we can get you to come back.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I appreciate you having me and we look forward to seeing you in Lake Placid next week.
Speaker 1:Terrific. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Legally Bond. If you're listening and have any questions for me, want to hear from someone at the firm or have a suggestion for a future topic, please email us at legallybondedbskcom. Also, don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to Legally Bond wherever podcasts are downloaded. Until our next talk be well.
Speaker 3:Bond, schenick and King has prepared this communication to present only general information. This is not intended as legal advice, nor should you consider it as such. You should not act or decline to act based upon the contents. While we try to make sure that the information is complete and accurate, laws can change quickly. You should always formally engage a lawyer of your choosing before taking actions which have legal consequences. For information about our communication, firm practice areas and attorneys, visit our website bskcom. This is Attorney Advertising.