Payette River Games 2016 Abgesagt

Die “Payette River Games” war einer der wichtigsten SUP Events in den letzten 2 Jahren. Doch nun ist der Event in Gefahr. Geldmangel ist auch hier das Problem wie bei allen anderen Events die dieses Jahr abgesagt wurden.

Was viele nicht wissen ist das „Kelly’s Whitewater Park“, der Austragungsort der Payette River Games und der Event selber von einem privaten Sponsor getragen wurde. Namentlich von Mark Pickard einem sehr sehr reichen Mann der den Park gebaut hat und dazu auch noch die Payette River Games ins Leben gerufen hat.

Nach 2 Jahren des Geld Ausgebens scheint nun aber doch genug und man sucht nach einem Sponsor. Gefunden wurde aber noch keiner, sicher ist aber, dass der Event ohne Hauptsponsor nicht weiter gehen wird. Was Mr. Pickard aber versicherte ist, dass für den Park keine Miete bezahlt werden muss und das der Name Payette River Games auch weiter benutzt werden darf.

Zu hoffen ist, dass ein Firma diesen Event übernimmt, dann einmal im Jahr schaut die ganze SUP- und Kayakwelt in Richtung Idaho.

Dies ist die offizielle Meldung:

Dear PRG athletes, sponsors and fans

We are grateful that the PRGs rose to be one of the premiere whitewater events of the year however we have not been successful in attracting a sufficient amount of financial sponsorship support to become self-sustaining. This has put the financial burden on us personally to underwrite the vast majority of the costs to operate the PRGs since its inception.

The Payette River Games was initially established with the hope of creating an economic stimulus to Cascade, Idaho and to promote the whitewater sports of SUP, kayak and surfing. We tried to raise the bar for all 3 sports with high purses and exposure on live-stream and CBS Sports, all while instilling a holistic and organic experience. We were hopeful large corporate sponsors would take over both the financial and physical obligations but that hasn’t happened. After deep reflection and with heavy heart we sadly announce that we will not be hosting the Payette River Games in 2016.

We want the competition flame to continue at Kelly’s and we believe we have the perfect venue to hold world-class events. We just can’t be the financial engine to do it anymore, nor can we commit the extensive time it takes to pull it all off. We are hopeful some entity takes ownership of it and we encourage any race organizer or group that is interested in holding a whitewater event at the park to approach us. We will gladly consider allowing you full use of the park for free. ‘

The economic stimulus in Cascade will still continue under “Kelly’s Green Project”. We recently bought 90 acres contiguous to Kelly’s Whitewater Park and together with other not for profit groups in the community we will build a beautiful 100 acre Green Park. Kelly’s Green Project will be built on property that was formerly a lumber mill plant and labeled a brown field.

We thank all of our past sponsors that believed in us, we extend our sincere gratitude to the countless volunteers and for the support of the entire town, a special thanks to Dan Gavere and tons of thanks to the captains who were integral in making the PRGs a success. Finally, our utmost thanks to the athletes who came from afar to our small town in Idaho to witness life on the river.

With deep admiration for all of you,
Mark & Kristina Pickard and Nikki Rota