Serving The City

One of the best kept secrets on the New York sporting scene is the annual gathering for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at The Armory, this year on Feb. 3-4.

The New Balance — the largest annual college sports event that takes in the New York metropolitan area — will feature more than 200 college and university teams from across the U.S. as well as four foreign countries.

That includes a list of stellar lineup of schools, including Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, Clemson, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Southern Cal, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Villanova. There are also six schools coming from Canada, three each from France and Puerto Rico, and Dublin City University of Ireland.

Dozens of the athletes will be looking to represent their home nations at the 2012 London Olympics from the U.S. and more than 25 other countries.

"This is our biggest and best event yet, it is the best indoor college meet in the country," said Jack Pfeifer, the meet director who helped found the meet 12 years ago.

"This is a great event for not just The Armory or college track, but for the metropolitan New York area. We have nearly 5,000 people converging on the City for the event."

The direct economic impact of the New Balance Collegiates on the City is expected to exceed more than $4 million as athletes, staff and fans will descend upon New York for several days.

This impact comes at the annual low ebb of the tourism calendar for the Big Apple, giving hotels and retailers a shot in the arm between the holidays and the coming of spring.

The New Balance Collegiate Invitational is just one of more than 100 events scheduled at The Armory this year. Other events include the famed Millrose Games, the New Balance Indoor Nationals, the New Balance Games, the Big East Conference Championships and a wide array of other high-volume high school offerings.