The Welland Sport Tourism Alliance (WSTA) is recognized by Welland City Council as a volunteer group of sports and business people sharing a common interest – promoting, educating, and advocating for sport tourism in Welland.

The WSTA assists in the development of partnerships to support local sport and businesses with communication and coordination. 

Current initiatives include: 

-     The free comeplayinwelland.com web site with a page for each sport group to use and a link to their specific group site;

-     A calendar of sport events on the website

-     A weekly article in the Welland Tribune;

-     Promotion of the Sport Tourism Fee Rebate Program through the City of Welland;

-     A contributing partner in the Niagara Sport Commission;

-     Offer of an annual award in partnership with the Welland Sport Promotion Award Committee   recognizing a sport group and its event for its economic and/or significant impact on Welland; and

-     Supporter meetings throughout the year on sport tourism topics on an as needed basis

Supportership is open to individuals, sports groups, associations, accommodation providers, restaurateurs and other businesses that share a common interest in the promotion of sports activities and sports tourism. Supporters must be located and operate within the City of Welland. Meetings are held at various times during the year to present topics of interest to sports groups, and to advise of new initiatives. 

The WSTA has an advisory committee which consists of the Chair and the Past Chair, both of whom are elected from the WSTA supportership. The position of Chair is open for nomination provided a written request is made to the committee prior to its regularly scheduled meeting in December of each year. The WSTA advisory committee is responsible for the administration and financial well-being of the WSTA. The WSTA advisory committee may, depending on immediacy of decision–making, decide on the affairs of the WSTA and report to the committee at the next scheduled meeting.

Definitions:

Supportership Meetings: Open to anyone interested in sport promotion. Meetings include presentations on topics relevant to those holding sporting events, new initiatives being started by the committee, etc. These meeting are held at various times in the year.

Committee Meetings: Open to anyone interested in sport promotion. Meetings are held once per month to make decisions on the budget, direction of the WSTA, future supportership meetings, etc.

(These guidelines were created August 3, 2011)

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Welland Sport Tourism Alliance advisory committee consists of:  

Deb Zahra - deb@comeplayinwelland.com

Judy Tutty - judy.tutty@comeplayinwelland.com 

Lynn Goulet - Past Chair lynng@comeplayinwelland.com 

Gregory Higginbotham Chair greg@comeplayinwelland.com 

Susan Morin - Venture Niagara support staff at susanmorin@comeplayinwelland.com 905-680-8085

Ron Lemon -  ronlemon@comeplayinwelland.com 

Ryan Nava - ryannava@comeplayinwelland.com