ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2024) – AAU President Jo Mirza, as well as two of AAU’s biggest events – the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships and AAU Junior Olympic Games – were chosen as winners in the SportsEvents 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards.

President Mirza won the SportsEvents Readers' Choice Award for Emerging Sports Events Industry Leader. Serving as AAU's 49th president, President Mirza has dedicated more than five decades of service to the AAU at the local, national, and international levels. Elected in October 2022, his role is leading the entirety of the AAU's volunteers, national staff, and event operators to provide quality participation opportunities for AAU's nearly 800,000 members.

The upcoming 2024 AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships won the Readers’ Choice Award for Most Anticipated Sporting Event to Watch. The 57th AAU Junior Olympic Games won for Best Live or Virtual Sporting Event.

“The AAU has been a leader in the sports industry since our founding in 1888,” said Jo Mirza, AAU President. “We’re pleased to see that the readers of SportsEvents magazine also recognize us as one of the best in the sports events industry.”

The AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships has been a premier event in the amateur sports world for the past 50 years. In 2024, the 51^st edition of the event is more anticipated than ever before, as the number of participants is expected to grow once again – especially on the boys’ side.
 
In 2023, the 50^th AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships saw 953 boys’ teams participate, the largest boys’ nationals to date, and 4,468 girls’ teams. In total, 95,000 athletes and coaches converged at the Orange County Convention Center in 2023, marking the largest year yet. 2024 is trending even higher.
 
The AAU Junior Olympic Games is the largest multi-sport event for youth in the United States. The 57^th edition, held in the summer of 2023, featured 11 different sports competitions, including track and field, wrestling, karate, taekwondo, swimming, and more.

The 11-day event brought in an economic impact of $69 million to the Des Moines, Iowa region with more than 14,500 participants. This was the seventh time Iowa hosted the event, more than any other location. Des Moines has also already been tabbed to host the event in 2026 and 2030.

In the summer of 2024, the event – in its 58^th year – returns to Greensboro, North Carolina. It will be the third time Greensboro will play host for the event and the fifth time the Games will be held in North Carolina.

In addition to President Mirza and AAU’s major events, AAU Baseball National Chair Todd Skovron was voted the winner for Best Live or Virtual Sports Event Planner by the public.

SportsEvents Magazine has honored AAU events and leaders since 2017. Previously, AAU won Readers’ Choice Awards in 2020 for the AAU Junior Olympic Games and 46^th AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships.
 
SportsEvents Magazine’s goal is to help planners of amateur sporting events and competitions be more effective, informed, and successful with their events.