Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission

1099 Gum Branch Road / P.O. Box 207

Jacksonville, NC 28540

Phone (910) 347-3141

Fax (910) 347-4705

The Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission was created at a joint meeting of the Jacksonville City Council and the Onslow Commissioners in July of 1999.  This formation was recommended by an Ad-Hoc study.  That Ad-Hoc study can be viewed here (in .pdf).

The Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission focuses on events, activities and facilitation that puts people in the motels of our community, people in our restaurants, and shoppers in the stores from out of town.  Our target is to encourage activities that bring in teams and people from out of the area who would likely spend the night.

A secondary goal has been to develop sports as a quality of life activity.  While we know how much our children may benefit from competition on trips out of the county, we sought to help grow the level of sports within the county by encouraging activities that would increase the level of play for our athletes or develop new alliances.

The Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission has been free-standing since July 2002 when the first board of directors other than the elected officials of the City and the County took office.  The group set criteria for the hiring of an executive director and putting the mission of the Sports Commission into action within Jacksonville and Onslow County.

Similarly, the group set criteria for the consideration of projects and events that would be funded by the group. 

• Does the event meet the mission of the Sports Commission to increase sales tax, occupancy tax and advance the spirit of sport within Onslow County?

• Does the event provide a promise that it will occur regularly, or is it a large one-time event that will generate significant income?  Alternatively, is it an event that has national, regional or significant importance within the sport it promotes and which will take place within Onslow County?

• Will local teams or athletes benefit from the competition, or will new  forms of athletic competition be born of the event?

• Do competent persons whose knowledge of sports management is unquestioned operate the event?  Does the sports commission have confidence in the operators and organizers of the event?

• Does the event have sanctions, support or approval from governing   bodies for the event and operates under rules, conditions or procedures adopted by authorities for the sport?

• Is the involvement of the Sports Commission or staff beneficial to the success of the program, and to the mission of the Sports Commission?