Dr. Roger J. Goudy re-elected as President/CEO of the largest, multi-sport, non-profit amateur sports event organization in the world
CLEVELAND, Oct. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), one of the largest, non-profit multi-sport amateur sports organizations in the world, announces Dr. Roger J. Goudy has won re-election as President and CEO during elections held at the 126th AAU National Convention in Cleveland.
Joining Dr. Goudy as AAU national officers are: Rusty Buchanan, First Vice-President, Joe Gura, Second-Vice-President, Cynthia Trombly-Martin, Secretary, and Jo Mirza, Treasurer.
A national sports event organization founded in 1888 to establish uniformity and standards in sports, the AAU has approximately 700,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across the United States. Dr. Goudy is its 47th president and first from Ohio since 1947.
“The AAU has been raising champions on and off the court for more than a century,” said Dr. Roger J. Goudy, President/CEO of the AAU. “I am blessed and humbled to be re-elected to lead this Union. I truly believe through sport, we change the world, one athlete, coach, parent and team at a time.”
Dr. Goudy has been with the AAU for more than 40 years, most notably serving as AAU Volleyball National Chair for 27 years, overseeing the sport’s growth from 14,000 members in 2000 to more than 150,000 members in 2018, making it the second largest sport in the AAU next to basketball.
The AAU Junior Volleyball National Championships, the largest volleyball event in the world as determined by Guinness Book of World Records, attracted a record 2,758 boys and girls teams in 2018 over a 12-day period, bringing 42,000 participants and generating an economic impact of more than $52,000,000 to the local Central Florida area. Over the years, this event has featured international teams from Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Spain and Virgin Islands.
“The AAU is uniquely positioned to provide athletic participation opportunities here in the United States as well as abroad,” said Dr. Roger J. Goudy, President/CEO of the AAU. “We will continue to expand and grow our event programming to provide “Sports For All, Forever.”
Prior to the AAU presidency, Dr. Goudy served as AAU national secretary for 20 years, taking office in 1994. He was part of the AAU national officer group that signed a 30-year deal with the WALT DISNEY WORLD Company in 1996. Later that year, the AAU relocated its national headquarters to Orlando, Florida becoming one of two anchor tenants at what is now the world-renown ESPN Wide World of Sports® Complex (the Atlanta Braves being the other), a state-of-the-art facility that has become the benchmark for youth athletic facilities and where more than 40 AAU national events are conducted annually.
A longtime Ohio resident, Dr. Goudy was superintendent of the Madison County School District from 2008 to 2015 and holds a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Akron.
Honors and awards include 2018 Orlando Business Journal CEO’s of the Year, 2017 and 2018 Sports Events Magazines Event Planners to Watch and 2017 National Association of Sports Commissions Event Organizer of the Year. In 2016, Dr. Goudy was named to Visit Orlando’s Board of Directors.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel D’Orazio, AAU Director of Marketing and Public Relations
e: rachel@aausports.org
c: 407-506-7638
ABOUT THE AAU:
Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of Sports For All, Forever is now shared by more than 700,000 members and 150,000 volunteers nationwide. The second-largest sport in the AAU, volleyball, has more than 150,000 members annually with more than 300 licensed AAU indoor and beach volleyball events. The AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships is the marquee annual event for the fastest-growing sport in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). The 2018 event featured more than 2,700 girls’ and boys’ teams across 38 divisions of competition. Over the years, this event has featured international teams from Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Germany, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Spain and Virgin Islands. Visit www.aausports.org for more information.