When it comes to sports and recreation, Dallas has everything you could want and more. Mild year-round temperatures and spacious lands cater to many outdoor activities.
Are you a golf enthusiast? The Dallas area has 39 private and 34 municipal golf courses, including the course for the annual EDS Byron Nelson Golf Classic.
Do you like the water? The Dallas area contains more than 60 lakes and reservoirs within 100 miles. Boating enthusiasts, fishers and swimmers of all ages can enjoy these beautiful lakes.
Do you prefer a quiet nature walk? Explore the season’s colorful foliage at the Dallas Arboretum, or try any of the other 406 public parks covering 23,000 acres, including Old City Park and White Rock Lake.
Are you a sports fan? Dallas is one of the few cities nationwide with four major professional sports teams. You can catch a game almost any time you come to town. The American Airlines Center, located due north of Dallas’ historic West End, is home to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, the NHL’s Dallas Stars and the Arena Football League’s Dallas Desperados. The American Airlines Center anchors a mile-long, 65-acre development that will eventually house up to 8 million square feet of entertainment, shopping, businesses and homes. Texas Rangers baseball can be watched at the beautifully designed Ameriquest Field in Arlington. Dallas also has a major league soccer team, the FC Dallas Burn, who play their home games in Frisco. And, of course, “America’s Team” and five-time Super Bowl champions, the Dallas Cowboys, challenge opposing NFL teams at Texas Stadium.
Dallas hosts big-time college football with the annual SBC Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year’s Day; the Red River Shootout, featuring the Universities of Texas and Oklahoma; and the State Fair Classic. Plus, the SMU Mustangs, competing in Division I athletics, play their home games on campus and will begin play in Conference USA in 2005.
Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie is home to championship thoroughbred racing; it hosted the 2004 Breeders’ Cup World Thorough--bred Championships.
Whether you are a spectator or a player, whether you seek professional teams or university sports, Dallas has it all. For more information, call the Dallas Events Hotline at 214.571.1301 or 800.232.5527, or check out www.visitdallas.com.
NDCC Sports Leagues
Baseball/Softball
The North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Baseball/Softball League, Chamber Baseball Inc., offers both a recreational and a competitive program for the youth of North Dallas. With both a spring/summer season and a recreational fall season, the league allows more than 1,500 youth to participate in their neighborhoods in various levels of competition.
The program began in 1960 and has continued with the sponsorship of the North Dallas Chamber to the present. Coaching clinics focused on skills and safety instruction are made available to further the league’s pursuit of excellence and to work towards a successful, organized baseball program in which the youth of the community may learn and enjoy the game of baseball as well as the principles of good sportsmanship and team play.
Teams may join the league intact, or individual players may obtain assistance in joining existing teams. Spring season information is available in February and fall information is available in August.
Web site: www.northdallaschamberbaseball.org
Address: 12203 Hightower PlaceDallas, TX 75244
Phone: 972.247.1855
Soccer
Based upon the success of the chamber’s baseball program, NDCC founded the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Soccer Association in 1967 in an effort to provide community support for the Dallas Tornadoes professional soccer team.
The association began with 78 players and was the first youth soccer program in North Texas. In 1978, the Classic League was created; it remains today under the organizational umbrella of the alliance. The Association changed its name in 2004 to the Chamber Classic Soccer Alliance.
The Chamber Classic Soccer Alliance’s purpose is to foster and advance a soccer program that will promote the ideals of good sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty and courage through organized athletic competition.
Over the years, the geographic boundaries of the alliance have remained the same; however, the demographics have changed a great deal. Today, the Alliance has approximately 141 teams and more than 2,000 players, with approximately 62 schools represented in the alliance’s recreational side alone.
Historically, the Alliance suffered from a lack of adequate and safe playing fields, as neither the City of Dallas nor the Dallas Independent School District were financially able to address these issues. Consequently, for years the alliance played most of its games on fields that were not irrigated. Despite volunteers’ efforts to keep fields playable, the harsh Texas weather created large, unsafe cracks in the fields that often made them unplayable. Then, the Alliance implemented an idea that benefits everyone. The Alliance entered into a lease agreement with an elementary school within their jurisdiction, providing for the creation of irrigated soccer fields on the school’s playground in exchange for first right of usage of the fields after the needs of the school.
The Dallas Independent School District recognized the Alliance for its work in creating new soccer fields. A local television station also honored the alliance as part of its Neighborhood Heroes program. Today, the Alliance’s soccer games are played on irrigated fields under the supervision of licensed and trained referees.
Web site: www.chambersoccer.org
Address: 10707 Preston RoadDallas, TX 75230
Phone: 214.361.5345
Golf
Whether you are looking for a casual golf outing or an unforgettable golf experience, there are more than 70 golf courses in and near North Dallas — and more than half of them are public. Our mild winters and sunny summers make Dallas an ideal destination for golfers 300-plus days a year. While the game of golf holds many challenges, perhaps the greatest challenge for playing golf in Dallas is choosing one of the best courses to play.
Some of the most popular golf courses in North Dallas are Prestonwood Country Club, Bent Tree Country Club and Brookhaven County Club. The Four Seasons, in nearby Irving, is the host of the PGA Tour’s EDS Bryon Nelson Classic.
NDCC Annual Golf Classic
Teams of golfers compete for a variety of prizes during a fun day in the sun at the North Dallas Chamber’s Annual Golf Classic, but they are not the only winners. The 23rd Annual NDCC Golf Classic will be held on October 10, 2005, at the Prestonwood Country Club Creek Course. Proceeds benefit the Dallas Police Department and the NDCC youth sports leagues through a contribution to the Dallas Park & Recreation Department. For information about the 2006 tournament, visit www.ndcc.org.
