World Games
Mountain Brook residents David Benck, far right, and Edgar Welden, second from right, are leaders of a group working to bring the 2021 World Games to Birmingham. Last fall the group took the World Games committee to the Alabama vs. Texas A&M football game in Tuscaloosa, pictured here. Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
No, it’s not the World Cup of soccer. And it’s not the Olympic Games.
But the World Games are a big deal. And if Edgar Welden and David Benck are successful in their efforts, the 2021 World Games will be in Birmingham. The two Mountain Brook residents are co-chairmen of the local organizing committee along with Scott Myers, executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Welden, the chairman of the board of the ASHOF, has long been a champion of sports in the metro area. Benck is vice president and general counsel for Hibbett Sporting Goods and legal counsel to the ASHOF.
Birmingham is one of just three cities still under consideration; the other two are Lima, Peru, and Ufa, Russia.
The World Games is a multidisciplinary sporting event consisting of non-Olympic sports. It’s been held every four years since 1981. It includes approximately 36 sports with more than 100 countries participating and 4,000 athletes. The event takes place over 11 days.
The very first World Games were held in Santa Clara, California, but they haven’t been back to the States since. The 2013 games were in Cali, Colombia; the 2017 games are in Wroclaw, Poland.
It was a trip to the Cali games that planted the seed for Birmingham’s bid.
Benck, who also serves on the board of directors for USA Gymnastics, and Myers were invited to attend the World Games. USA Gymnastics has disciplines in both the World Games and the Olympics.
“Scott and his wife and me and my wife went down to the games,” Benck said. “When we went down there, we were not looking at it as something we would pursue. We were mostly down there enjoying ourselves. We had all-access passes, so we were able to see the operational side of things and the behind-the-scenes working of the games. We were mostly just enjoying the sporting events. It wasn’t until we got back that we began to consider it.”
They immediately decided to bring Welden, a longtime champion of sports in the metro area, into the mix.
“They came back all excited and came up with the thought that maybe we could do it in Birmingham,” Welden said. “Scott and David approached me as chairman of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and asked us to help lead that effort. And of course, I love sports and was all excited about it and thought it was a great thing for the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama.”
Said Benck, “Edgar has spent half his life doing community service and doing things to benefit the greater Birmingham area and Alabama, and most of his endeavors have been in the sports area. So this has really been in his sweet spot. He’s been a huge, huge part of this thing trying to put it together. We certainly would not be where we are if it were just Scott and I.”
The venues Birmingham has to offer is one of the committee’s biggest selling points.
“Birmingham is really fortunate to have the venues we have,” Welden added. “They’re outstanding, and the important thing is we don’t have to go spend money creating, building and investing in venues. We already have the venues we need.”
The community’s institutions and municipalities have stepped up with an impressive show of cooperation.
“Some people seem to have a low estimation of Birmingham and what Birmingham presents,” Benck said, “but we have commitments from Birmingham-Southern, Samford and UAB to provide all of their venues complimentary, including their residence halls and their cafeterias. And of course, the city of Birmingham is kicking in the BJCC and the CrossPlex and even Legion Field. Having those four pockets of locations, we’re able to put together a proposal to have mini-campuses for the athletes… and link them with transportation.”
Said Welden, “I’ve been involved in a lot of projects over the years, and I’m not sure I’ve seen one with such universal support. From the city, City Council, board of education, mayor and his staff, county commissioners, legislators, the business community have all reached out and shown great support and unity in this.”
Another plus is that Birmingham is a very convenient city to get around in.
“We have a very condensed and tight footprint,” Benck said. “The distance from the CrossPlex to Barber Motorsports Speedway to Oak Mountain would be the farthest anyone would have to travel, and what is that, 20 minutes? In Colombia, we had to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get from venue to venue.”
Among the participating sports are aikido, archery, billiards, bowling, canoeing, dance sport, flying disc, gymnastics, handball, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, orienteering, powerlifting, racquetball, rugby and softball. Each city can add up to five “invitational sports” of local interest. Among the possibilities that have been recommended here are 3-on-3 basketball, cricket and sporting clays.
World Games executives toured the city and its facilities — sports venues, hotels, restaurants and college campuses — in October. The representatives from each city will go to Lausanne, Switzerland, for the final presentations on Jan. 21, and the next day the decision will be announced.
Birmingham’s presenters will include Benck, Welden, Myers, Birmingham Mayor William Bell and Larry Probst, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee. The presentation will take place at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee.
The estimated cost to host the games is $75 million. Two studies were done to estimate the economic impact. The Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau study projected a $256.5 million impact.
Sam Addy of the University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research estimated a low of $230 million and a high of $280 million.
“If we win this bid,” Welden said, “I think one of the most important things is how we’ve been able to come together as a city and a community to work on a project, and we’ve just had no pushback from anybody. I’m just proud of our community, and I hope like heck we can be selected. But if for some reason we did not win, we’ve already won in that Birmingham has gone out all over the world as being a finalist.
“We’ve gotten millions of dollars of publicity out of this already.”
