The Georgia Games comes to Gainesville this week.
The annual event, created in 1989 as part of the effort to win the bid to host the 1996 Olympic Games, has 49 events that run from May to August and take place in various places across the state.
On Saturday, the IronBeast Barbell gym in Gainesville will host powerlifting. On Sunday, the Jim Walters YMCA will host power soccer.
Several local athletes will compete in powerlifting, and IronBeast is hosting it for the second year in a row. Those in attendance will have the chance to meet weightlifting legend Lee Haney, former Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under the Clinton administration, and best known for winning the most Mr. Olympia titles with eight.
Haney will be on hand to lend support to the competitors, which include special Olympians.
The power soccer event will feature the Gainesville-based North Georgia Screamin’ Eagles, along with three other teams. The Screamin’ Eagles recently finished second overall in the United States Power Soccer Association’s President’s Cup, a national tournament they hosted this year, with teams coming in from as far away as Oakland. The second-place finish earned the Screamin’ Eagles a promotion to the Champions Cup, where they’ll compete against the Atlanta Tigers, who will also be at the Georgia Games.
The Georgia Games will be the final power soccer event of the season, with next season beginning in October.
ATLANTA BRAVES: Coming off a pivotal three-game series against the division-leading Phillies, the Braves will spend the week’s first four days enjoying the All-Star break. Today is the Home Run Derby, which will feature no Braves. However, four Braves were selected as National League All-Stars, including Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Johnny Venters and Jair Jurrjens.
McCann will start at catcher and it’s possible Jurrjens could be named the starting pitcher. Jones, who is on the disabled list and recovering from knee surgery, won’t play.
The Braves close the week with a three-game series against the Nationals beginning Friday at Turner Field, with the Nats sending Livan Hernandez to face a Braves pitcher yet to be decided.
GWINNETT BRAVES: Like their big league affiliate 30 miles up I-85, the G-Braves will also be enjoying off time, as the Triple-A All-Star Game will take place on Wednesday with the International League set to face the Pacific Coast League in Salt Lake City, Utah. The G-Braves will have more representatives in the game than any other team, with Julio Teheran, Stefan Gartrell, Mauro Gomez and Jose Constanza.
The season resumes Thursday with a four-game series against Norfolk at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville.