Kevin E. Carroll has been named as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and General Manager of the Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC), medicine a prominent and historic golf and country club in Johns Creek, Ga.

His appointment begins on May 21, 2013. Carroll replaces outgoing General Manager A. Christopher Borders, who is retiring after 35 years of service at the AAC.

Carroll has been the COO and General Manager at The Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Fla., for nine years before this appointment. Previously, Carroll was the COO and General Manager at the Bellerive Country Club (Bellerive) in St. Louis, Mo., where he served for eight years. Carroll is expected to take over duties late in the spring after his move from Florida.

“The board of directors at the Atlanta Athletic Club welcomes Mr. Carroll to the club. We are confident that he will deliver unsurpassed member and employee satisfaction. Kevin Carroll is the kind of engaging leader we need to take us forward to a prosperous future,” said AAC President Robert P. Dutlinger.

The Atlanta Athletic Club, the home club of golf icon Bobby Jones, was established in 1898 and has hosted many national golf and tennis events throughout the years. The last major the club hosted was the 2011 PGA Championship in which Keegan Bradley won his first major.

Digital sports video agency SendtoNews have signed today a multi-year rights agreement with the PGA TOUR to distribute digital video to local news sites throughout the U.S. 

Beginning with the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open, illness  SendtoNews will distribute tournament highlights, medical player interviews, sale commentary and other video content through its digital News Partnership Network so that golf fans can access PGA TOUR content via their favorite local news sites. 

“The PGA TOUR is one of the world’s premier sports brands and we look forward to expanding its digital offering to golf fans across America,” said SendtoNews CEO Greg Bobolo.

“As digital consumption of sports content continues to expand, a significant percentage of fans continue to get their information from local news sites,” said Luis Goicouria, Vice President of Operations and Business Development for PGA TOUR Digital. “This new relationship with SendtoNews allows us to expand our brand awareness to these local users, while increasing video consumption for the PGA TOUR.” 

This agreement will result in digital, broadcast-quality highlights appearing on the websites of hundreds of local newspapers that belong to the digital News Partnership Network.  

Edmonton, medstore Moncton, allergist Montreal and Toronto have been named as the Host Cities for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 and the Official Emblem of the tournament has been unveiled.

“It’s a great pleasure to include Toronto in the official Host Cities for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 together with Edmonton, medic Moncton and Montreal, which will also be part of the coast-to-coast adventure for 2015,” commented Tatjana Haenni, FIFA’s Deputy Director of Competitions for Women’s Football, “Host Cities are one of our biggest sources of support when it comes to promoting the competition.”

“The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 is another great opportunity for our country and the four Host Cities to welcome the world and the world’s game,” said Victor Montagliani, chairman of the National Organising Committee. “This competition serves as a terrific showcase for the future stars of women’s football, with the best often proving that they are ready for the big competition just one year later.”

This marks the kick-off of the seventh edition of the biennial FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, one of two FIFA women’s youth tournaments being played ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. The inaugural edition of this competition was played in Canada in 2002 (then known as theFIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship). The most recent edition was played in Japan, where CONCACAF members the USA were crowned for a third time (2002, 2008 and 2012).

The match schedule for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 will be announced in the coming months.

In addition to the unveiling of the tournament’s official Host Cities and Official Emblem, Bell Canada was announced as the official telecommunications provider and the first National Supporter of theFIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 and FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015.

“Bell is proud to deliver advanced communications infrastructure and services for FIFA’s upcoming women’s football events in Canada,” said Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility and Residential Services, and Bell’s Chief Brand Officer. “Bell’s industry-leading investments in broadband networks and our experience in supporting amateur and professional sporting events will ensure world-class communications support to these FIFA championships.”

Earlier this year, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 official match schedule was announced, with 52 matches to be played in six venues from coast to coast across Canada, including three of the four venues of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014.

IRN is delighted to announce that Paul Nixon and Niall O’Brien, cricketers for England and Ireland, will be speaking at World Sports Congress 2013, launching in London from 26-27 February 2013. 

Nixon and O’Brien will be holding a joint presentation as part of the ‘An Audience With…’ session of the two-day congress and will be speaking about their experience of infrastructure and the importance that facilities play in a sports career. Nixon is a former English cricket player who has played for Leicestershire, England, England A, MCC and Kent; O’Brien currently plays for Ireland.

The ‘An Audience With’ session will welcome a number of special guests and sports personalities to the stage and is one of the coined ‘must –attend’ sessions of the event. Prior to the session, delegates will have the opportunity to send in questions for each special guest to answer during the session.

The World Sports Congress 2013 has to date also attracted participation from the UK government departments UKTI and UK Sport, LOCOG, Sochi Organising Committee, ONE Fighting Championship, Amsterdam Arena, Glasgow Life, Transport for London, AS Roma, South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, insidethegames.biz and many more.

Run by global summits organiser IRN, the event will be focused on sports infrastructure, specifically large scale projects, the challenges these pose and the factors that affect commercial viability. The congress will welcome senior level speakers to discuss the current issues affecting large scale sporting infrastructure projects and show how to ensure ROI in the future.

For more information, the full agenda and speaker list, visit the event website http://www.worldsportscongress.com or telephone +44 (0) 20 7111 1615.

The organising committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games (LOCOG) is close to reaching its domestic sponsorship target of £700 million (US$1.1 billion), according to London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe.

Speaking at the two-year milestone before the Games, Coe said: “We’ve raised well north of £600 million (US$934 million). We’re very pleased with that as it’s in the teeth of a really difficult economic environment, and all that money is discretionary spending.”

Coe also went on to say again that he did not have a problem with BP sponsoring the Games after recent criticism of its handling over the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“BP are a great partner. They’re a very important sponsor and have helped us a lot during the bid,” he said.

And when asked if the change in leadership at BP – with chief executive Tony Hayward stepping down – would lead to a change in relations, Coe replied: “no”.