Sports
Greensboro is not currently home to any top-level professional sports teams. The National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes franchise moved to Raleigh from Hartford, Connecticut in 1997, but the team played its first two seasons at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex while its home arena, Raleigh's Entertainment & Sports Arena, was under construction.
The Greensboro Grasshoppers (formerly the Greensboro Bats and the Greensboro Hornets) are a minor league baseball team located in Greensboro. They are a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and have been a farm team of the Miami Marlins since 2003. They play at NewBridge Bank Park.
Greensboro's Carolina Dynamo play in the USL Premier Development League, USL Professional Division, which is currently the top level men's amateur soccer competition in the United States. It has 64 teams competing in four conferences, split into nine regional divisions. It's considered to be the fourth tier of competition, behind Major League Soccer. The team plays its home games at Macpherson Stadium in nearby Browns Summit, North Carolina, where they have played since 2003. The PDL seasons take place during the summer months, the player pool is drawn mainly from elite NCAA college soccer players seeking to continue playing high level soccer during their summer break, which they can do while still maintaining their college eligibility.
Greensboro is home to the headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Conference, despite having no school participating within the league. The Greensboro Coliseum Complex has hosted the Men's ACC Tournament 23 times since 1967 and the Women's ACC Tournament 12 times since 2000. Greensboro has also hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four on four occasions.
The PGA Tour holds a tournament annually in Greensboro. The Wyndham Championship is held at Sedgefield Country Club and is the last PGA Tour event before the Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. The tournament was founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and one of the oldest events on the PGA Tour.
| Clubs | Sport | League | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greensboro Grasshoppers | Baseball | South Atlantic League – Northern Division | NewBridge Bank Park |
| Carolina Dynamo | Soccer | USL Premier Development League (PDL) | Macpherson Stadium |
| Triad Rugby Club | Men's Club Rugby | USA Rugby South | Oka T. Hester Park |
| Gate City Roller Girls | Roller Derby | Greensboro Roller Derby | Skate South |
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Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“Falling in love is the right adventure for those who dislike sports and travel.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn,
Thy sports are fled and all thy charms withdrawn;
Amidst thy bowers the tyrant’s hand is seen,
And desolation saddens all thy green;
One only master grasps the whole domain,
And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain;”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730?–1774)