WDW Daily News

Disney’s 20th annual Cross Country Classic, presented by New Balance, attracts colleges, high schools and middle schools from around the country each year. The fast 5K and 8K courses provide athletes a variety of terrain. The event will take place from Oct. 9 – 10.

The three-park nighttime event, Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, will feature Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K and runDisney Kids Races, offering something special for runners of all ages. Participants can expect on-course Disney entertainment. To top off the evening, runners are invited to the exclusive Finish Line Party at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon will take place Nov. 6 – 7.

Eight men’s college basketball teams, including Alabama, Southern California and Notre Dame, will compete in the 2015 AdvoCare Invitational on Nov. 26, 27 and 29 at HP Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The event will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 29.

The prestigious Disney Junior Soccer Showcase event will give younger age groups the chance to experience the same great national competition and top-notch tournament organization as their older counterparts in the original Disney Soccer Showcase in December. The Disney Junior Soccer Showcase will take place from Nov. 27 to Nov. 29.

Brazilian and German soccer powerhouses will again headline the 2016 Florida Cup at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort from January 9-21, 2016.

Two-time FIFA World Champion SC Corinthians, four-time Brazilian Champion Fluminese FC, led by superstar Ronaldinho, and Champions League club Bayer 04 Leverkusen are returning from last year’s event along with newcomer and five-time German Cup Champion FC Schalke 04. The final field for the event, which will be organized by ESPN Wide World of Sports and 2SV Sports, is expected to be announced in September.

The Florida Cup in 2016 will also include a panel discussion featuring club and league representatives discussing a variety of soccer-related topics, including youth development, sports marketing and global league structures, among other topics.

The 2016 Florida Cup marks the beginning of a broader relationship between Disney and the event. As a part of its five-year agreement with 2SV Sports, the Disney sports complex will be the official venue for the tournament and ESPN Wide World of Sports will jointly collaborate with 2SV Sports on the management and operation of the event, which will have an expanded field starting next year.

“Our goal is to turn Florida in January into the main soccer pre-season destination for renowned international clubs.’’ said Florida Cup CEO and former professional soccer player Ricardo Villar. “The Florida Cup serves as an ideal platform for clubs who are looking to internationalize their brands in an emerging soccer market, while finding optimal preparation conditions tied to quality international competition.”

Last year, the Florida Cup, which was televised live in more than 127 countries, made a dramatic debut punctuated by intense national pride and high-scoring offenses. In all, there were 12 goals scored in the four matches.

“The training camp in Orlando last January was ideal and it played a big role in the club’s early success this season,” said Edu Gaspar, executive director of S.C. Corinthians Paulista, which has a multi-year commitment to play in the Florida Cup. “We are looking forward to coming back in the upcoming years.’’

The Florida Cup is part of a host of prestigious soccer events at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which is the official preseason training home of AS Roma. Among the 11 soccer events at the Disney complex are the Disney Soccer Showcase, the Disney Soccer Academy, the Disney Cup International, the Disney Memorial Day Soccer Shootout, the Disney 3v3 Soccer Championship, the Disney Pre-Season Soccer Kickoff and the Disney President’s Day Soccer Festival.

“Soccer fans who visit ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex will experience a world-class soccer venue that offers family-friendly entertainment,’’ said Maribeth Bisienere, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises. “As the appeal of soccer continues, we hope to strengthen our collaboration with 2SV Sports and expand the Florida Cup to attract even more international teams and their fans to Central Florida.’’

The historic Disney Turn Back the Clock Weekend baseball tournament will give players and audiences a taste of old-time baseball at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. More than 30 teams from the U.S., Panama, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will compete in the tournament on Sept. 4 – 7.

Disney’s 20th annual Cross Country Classic, presented by New Balance, attracts colleges, high schools and middle schools from around the country each year. The fast 5K and 8K courses provide athletes a variety of terrain. The event will take place from Oct. 9 – 10.

The three-park nighttime event, Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, will feature Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K and runDisney Kids Races, offering something special for runners of all ages. Participants can expect on-course Disney entertainment. To top off the evening, runners are invited to the exclusive Finish Line Party at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon will take place Nov. 6 – 7.

Eight men’s college basketball teams, including Alabama, Southern California and Notre Dame, will compete in the 2015 AdvoCare Invitational on Nov. 26, 27 and 29 at HP Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The event will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 29.

The prestigious Disney Junior Soccer Showcase event will give younger age groups the chance to experience the same great national competition and top-notch tournament organization as their older counterparts in the original Disney Soccer Showcase in December. The Disney Junior Soccer Showcase will take place from Nov. 27 to Nov. 29

Brazilian soccer star Marcelo, the defensive anchor for Real Madrid, is joining other European soccer pros who are interacting with youth players participating in the Disney Soccer Academy this week at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.

Marcelo, arguably the top left back in the world, will attend the popular Disney Soccer Academy for the first time on Tuesday. English Premier League players will join Marcelo in coaching and interacting with aspiring players during the week.

This year’s Disney Soccer Academy will be held at the HESS Sports Fields at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World.

Back for the third summer at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the Drew Brees Passing Academy and 7on7 Tournament will have another group of NFL stars serving as guest coaches. Joining the Saints’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the three-day event at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida will be former NFL Pro Bowlers Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson and Mark Ingram.

Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals wide receiver), Peterson (Arizona Cardinals defensive back) and Ingram (New Orleans Saints running back) will help coach the 20-plus prep football teams from across the country that are taking part in the camp. Each NFL player will help train athletes at his respective position during the event, which includes one day of position training and two days of 7on7 action from June 25-27 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the year-round training facility for several current and former NFL players such as Santonio Holmes and Ike Taylor under the direction of renowned strength coach Tom Shaw.

The Brees camp will also feature a position-by-position skills competition, 1-on-1 passing competitions and a panel discussion featuring all of the NFL players and other NFL personnel.

The camp is open to only 24 high school football teams (15-20 players per team). Teams can register and get additional information at www.drewbreespassingacademy.com.

For more information about ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, visit www.disneysportsnews.com.

Fueled by the popularity of ESPN and the magic of Disney, the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex continues to be revered as the ultimate sports venue for America’s youth athletes. Each year the complex provides hundreds of thousands of young athletes with an extraordinary sports experience that can’t be found anywhere else.

Since the 230-acre sports complex was built in 1997, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex has hosted more than a half-million sports events, marking the 500,000th occasion on April 17, 2015 during the Disney Volleyball Showcase.

The monumental event highlighted the rich history of the sports complex, which began with a Braves-Reds spring training baseball game on the opening night in 1997. Over the years, the facility has accommodated more than 60 different sports, more than twice the number of sports scheduled to take place during the 2016 Summer Olympics. Over 3 million athletes, or more than 1.5 times the total population in Florida, and 231,000 teams have competed at the complex during the venue’s life.

Today, the complex hosts more than 100 events per year, including key events such as Atlanta Braves Spring Training, the Pop Warner Super Bowl, the Disney Soccer Showcase, the Drew Brees Passing Academy and 7on7 Tournament, and various AAU National Championship events.

On average, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex attracts more than 330,000 athletes and more than 1.5 million total visitors (athletes, coaches, parents and spectators) each year. Among the largest events is the Disney Soccer Showcase, which draws more than 11,000 athletes and 660 teams over an eight-day span. Disney has also become a prominent recruiting ground for colleges across the nation, as events such as  the Disney Field Hockey Showcase attract upwards of 250 or more college coaches annually to attend the four-day event.

Bringing Popular ESPN Shows & Personalities to Disney

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex has become the worldwide leader in ESPN3 content production with more than 600 hours of ESPN3 content in 2014. Beyond ESPN3, youth sports events, such as the Disney Volleyball Showcase in April and Pop Warner Super Bowl in December, have accounted for much of the 2,000-plus broadcast hours on ESPN networks that have originated from the complex. Home to a 2,500 square foot state-of-the-art production center, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex has two production studios with eight edit bays and direct uplinks to ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., Los Angeles and New York.

The complex has also hosted some of ESPN’s most recognizable shows and personalities. ESPN hosted one of its 25^th-anniversaryMike & Mike shows at Champion Stadium during Braves spring training in March 2015. The network has also televised its popular Baseball Tonight show with personalities Tim Kurkjian, Keith Law, Karl Ravech and Aaron Boone for a week at the sports complex in spring 2015 and staged its popular Fantasy Football Now show at the complex as part of the ESPN Fantasy Football Convention in summer 2014. Convention guests were given unprecedented access to ESPN Fantasy Insiders and on-air personalities, including Adam Schefter, Chris Mortensen, Mark Schlereth, Matthew Berry, Tim Hasselbeck and Trey Wingo.

Most recently, Heisman Trophy winners Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota joined Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden to film the second consecutive season of Gruden’s QB Camp at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Offering Unprecedented Amenities for Athletes and Their Families

Situated in the heart of the world’s most popular family vacation destination, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort offers families a number of amenities that set the complex apart from any other sports venue.

For select events, athletes have the opportunity to enjoy themselves away from the competition and escape to a private party at one of Disney’s world-class theme parks or water parks. Athletes sometimes have exclusive access to some of the most popular attractions on property and entertainment by a DJ, the sports complex Prize Patrol and the ever-popular Disney characters.

 ESPN’s Baseball Tonight is hitting the road for a week of live shows at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort beginning Monday, March 23 and concluding Friday, March 27.

The 30-minute shows will air each day at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with an additional hour-long edition at 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 26. Karl Ravech will host with analyst Aaron Boone and ESPN MLB Insider Tim Kurkjian on Thursday and ESPN MLB Insider Keith Law will join the crew on Tuesday, March 24 and Friday. The Baseball Tonight set will be located on the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex promenade.

Two Baseball Tonight shows at the ESPN sports complex will accompany ESPN’s MLB Spring Training game coverage from Champion Stadium, home of the Atlanta Braves: Phillies at Braves on March 24 (1 p.m., ESPN) and Red Sox at Braves on March 27 (1 p.m., ESPN).

Live broadcasts are free and open to the public. Guests are welcome to join hosts Ravech, Sciambi and Virk for six shows over five days and be a part of the live audience outside Champion Stadium at the ESPN Complex.

Baseball Tonight is just the latest in a growing lineup of ESPN events held at the sports complex. Earlier this month, “Mike and Mike” celebrated its 15th anniversary at Walt Disney World with live broadcasts at the sports complex and Downtown Disney Marketplace. ESPN also staged its Fantasy Football Now show at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as part of the ESPN Fantasy Football Convention last summer.

Walt Disney World President George Kalogridis, Senior Vice President of Disney Sports Enterprises Maribeth Bisienere, Mickey Mouse, Orlando City Soccer Club owner Flávio Augusto da Silva and several players, including Kaká, pose in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom to mark the announcement of a multi-year agreement between the two brands. The deal, announced March 4, makes Walt Disney World Resort a founding sponsor of the club mere days before Orlando City will make their Major League Soccer debut March 8 on ESPN2.

For the second straight year, Jon Gruden’s QB Camp series will be filmed at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. This year, the series will feature the last two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, Jameis Winston (Florida State) and Marcus Mariota (Oregon).

Jon Gruden’s QB Camp series has become as much a part of annual pre-NFL Draft coverage as the Scouting Combine and Pro Days since its debut on ESPN in 2010. Last year’s NFL Rookie of the Year Teddy Bridgewater was one of the first elite group of quarterbacks to film the show at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. In all, 38 players have participated in the series the past five years, including Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson and Indianapolis Colts All-Pro Andrew Luck.

Gruden’s QB Camp is back for its sixth year this spring, beginning Tuesday, April 7 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Shows will air across multiple ESPN networks and ABC leading up to the 2015 NFL Draft. (Note: The entire Gruden’s QB Camp TV schedule will be released later this month and available on ESPN Media Zone.) In addition, all past QB Camp shows will be available via ESPN Classic Video on Demand, beginning the first week of April.

This month, Gruden will welcome five quarterbacks to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex where he’ll spend time with each prospect in the film room and on the field. Excerpts of the visits will be featured the same day on SportsCenter.

The 2015 QB Camp class features Winston and Mariota, potentially the top two overall picks in this year’s NFL Draft. Other participants include 2015 Cotton Bowl Classic MVP Bryce Petty (Baylor), 2nd Team All-Pac 12 selection Brett Hundley (UCLA) and 2014 MWC Offensive Player of the Year Garrett Grayson (Colorado State).

The Super Bowl-winning coach and Monday Night Football analyst discusses each of the quarterbacks who will be part of his sixth Gruden’s QB Camp:

On Garrett Grayson: “There’s a lot of parts of Colorado State’s system that I recognize, unlike a lot of college football that’s running up-tempo, no-huddle, spread-option football. There’s some principles at Colorado State that will serve Grayson well. He can run it. He can audible. He can get you out of trouble with his legs. He’s a dark horse in this class.”

On Brett Hundley: “Hundley helped put UCLA football back on the map. They were in trouble before he arrived. Really what he did running and passing, taking over the city of Los Angeles the last three years, is a great accomplishment. And, for the Bruins to finish as a top-10 team, that puts an exclamation point on his career. A talented guy.”

On Marcus Mariota: “Mariota is special in a lot of ways. He’s a dynamic dual-threat on the field and he is humble – no-nonsense, full of character off the field.4.52 is what he ran (at the Combine). He competes like crazy. I just think he has a lot of ‘can’t miss’ qualities.”

On Bryce Petty: “Petty might have the best arm talent in this draft. Last year Derek Carr came to town and put on an aerial display. I would be surprised if Petty isn’t that guy this year. Stereotyped in the Baylor offense, but he’s different. He’s a great passer. He’s a finisher. I love finishers. Gray shirt, red shirt, waited his time. He’s physically and mentally ready to go. I like Petty.”

On Jameis Winston: “Not many people do what Jameis Winston did: first year as a starter winning a National Championship, only one loss in his two years as a starter. He’s got great charisma. He’s polarizing for some people but he’s a rare talent. I can’t wait to spend some time with him. I coached the Bucs with a Florida State quarterback named Brad Johnson. Things worked out alright.”

The Atlanta Braves begin their 2015 spring training workouts Saturday, Feb. 21 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. Newcomers Nick Markakis (OF), Shelby Miller (RHP) and AJ Pierzynski (C), along with Baseball Operations Director John Hart (Winter Park), are among the new faces on the roster this spring. The Braves begin their 18th spring training season at Champion Stadium.