Daytona Beach Hopes Students Will Be Good Sports for Spring Break

Alarmed at spring-break depravity that claimed several lives this year, city officials have unveiled a festival to lure more golf clubs and tennis rackets than beer kegs and marijuana next spring.

The National Collegiate Sports Festival is intended to give students constructive things to do so they will party less, promoters said.

Students should have a healthier, safer spring break, and the city’s image should improve.

Last spring, several students died when they fell off hotel balconies, apparently drunk.

The festival organization has contacted many colleges and universities and received a positive response, festival Vice President Mike May said. The intercollegiate competition in 20 sports will take place the last three weeks of March and the first week in April. About $250,000 in prize money is expected to be awarded.

A highlight will be the involvement of Walt Disney World for the first time in a spring-break promotion.

Local promoters’ decision to ban alcohol and cigarette displays enabled Disney to take part, said Disney marketing representative Dave Kuhnlein.

“We can tie in with the program now,” Kuhnlein said. “We couldn’t bring over a Disney character before with an inflated beer can in the background.”

The competition will attract more serious, affluent students, said Casey Leydon, chief executive officer of the festival.

The emphasis on sports will capitalize on the physical fitness trend among the young, said Robert Spadafora, the festival’s associate director of events.

A change in the state drinking age from 19 to 21 was cited as another incentive to come up with alternatives to activities involving alcohol.

The Daytona Beach Area Chamber of Commerce supports the festival, but executive vice president Alex Bray said he doubted that students would flock to the city solely for sports. He doubted that students would stop partying, but said athletics could be part of an overall package of events.