SportsTravel Road Trip Puts Spotlight on the Quest for Greatness

“We will no longer be comfortable being great.”

That message was heard both directly and indirectly at the recent 2026 SportsTravel Road Trip in Colorado Springs. It was a line delivered by former Penn State football coach James Franklin after his Nittany Lions suffered a crushing one-point loss to Ohio State for the second consecutive year in 2018, and it was part of a clip from Franklin’s postgame press conference shared by Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC President Brad Estes during his presentation at the event.

Franklin’s quote has long been particularly inspiring to Estes, who shared it with an audience of event managers from the Olympic national governing bodies and elsewhere while outlining his vision for building “Switchbacks 2.0.” The 12th edition of the SportsTravel Road Trip, sponsored by Louisville Tourism and the Louisville Sports Commission, featured additional education including a panel from the leaders of three winter national governing bodies reflecting on their experience at the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

While Estes spoke, the current edition of the Switchbacks could be seen practicing on the pitch at Widener Field, the 8,000-seat home of the 2024 USL champions. Though the team has only been in existence since 2015 and already has achieved elite success, Estes has been charged with building an organization that has the same type of generational fandom familiar to some of Colorado’s other pro sports teams. “In 50 years, we want kids to wake up and they’re fans and they have no idea why,” he said.

To do that, Estes is implementing many of the same strategies he implemented while president of fellow USL Championship club Louisville City FC, which he ran for five years including two title-winning seasons before taking over in Colorado Springs in 2025. Estes outlined five pillars for building a culture that will last, among them having a “balance sheet mindset,” building authentic relationships; investing in the community; and VMV — Vision, Mission, Values.

‘Lightning in a Bottle’

Estes’ comments followed a panel, hosted by SportsTravel Publisher Jason Gewirtz, that brought together three executives who are familiar with success: Pat Kelleher, CEO of USA Hockey; Matt Farrell, CEO of U.S. Figure Skating; and Aron McGuire, CEO of USA Bobsled & Skeleton.

All three men experienced the highs of the recent Olympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina. The U.S. delegation won three medals in bobsled, including gold by Elana Meyers Taylor; three in figure skating, led by women’s singles gold medalist Alysa Liu; and swept the gold medals in men’s, women’s and sled hockey, including the first gold for the men’s team at the Olympics since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

Gewirtz asked the three how they plan to capitalize on that momentum.

“There are only 2,500 facilities where you can play ice hockey in the U.S.,” said Kelleher. “We work on growing the game every day, that’s No. 1 priority, so this adds fuel on top of all the things we do. We’ll close in on 700,000 members in USA Hockey this year, 100,000 females for the first time ever.”

Farrell called it, “lightning in a bottle right now,” citing registration numbers climbing in areas not known as figure skating hotbeds, such as Topeka, Kansas, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Birmingham, Alabama.

McGuire pointed out that there are only two bobsled courses in the United States, and so, “membership is not a priority for us but we are trying to recruit athletes in our sport to try it out.” To boost awareness, his NGB turned to marketing, partnering with Raising Canes to put his group’s logo on every cup the company sold during the Games. The results are already being seen. “Our starting pool of athlets who come into the program is doubling in size,” he said.

The event began with Jordan Dillon, the associate director of membership and engagement, rights holders at Sports ETA, spotlighting the key takeaways from her organization’s recent state of the industry report, which was sponsored by the Northstar Meetings Group. Among them:

• 339 million sports travelers
• $11.2 billion in direct spending
• $247.5 billion in total economic impact

Dillon also pointed out the growth opportunity from the 6 million international sports travelers who add $6.3 billion in direct spending to sports tourism in the United States.

Louisville Students Make the Trip

Gen Howard, director of sports market development for Louisville Tourism, and Julie Howell, chief revenue officer for the Louisville Sports Commission, reiterated their city’s commitment to the Olympic movement.  This year’s Road Trip came just one month after Louisville was announced as the host of the 2028 U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials, the first time the city will host such an event.

Howell also introduced two attendees who are students in the University of Louisville’s sports management program: DeMaria King who is also a member of the Cardinals’ track and field team, and Taylor Halverson, who played hockey at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

The Road Trip officially got underway on May 6 with a networking reception at the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s headquarters.