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 Sioux Falls Stampede

Jim Loria Named SF Sports President

February 23, 2011 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release


(Sioux Falls, SD) Jim Loria has been promoted to the position of President of Sioux Falls Sports, the parent company of the Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey Club and Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants Baseball Club.

Loria, who has over 30-years of sports marketing and management experience, has been with Sioux Falls Sports since its inception in 1998. Loria was most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships for Sioux Falls Sports. He acted as President of the Stampede until 2009 when the company acquired the Sioux Falls Canaries Baseball Club.

"We've experienced a lot of positive challenges in the last 14-months since adding a minor league baseball team to our company holdings," said Gary Weckwerth, CEO & Managing Partner of Sioux Falls Sports. "We've been learning how to successfully manage two sports franchises under one roof and with one staff. After spending time reviewing our structure, it became obvious that Jim belongs in the driver's seat, managing the overall operations."

Loria's role the past year has been to exclusively manage major corporate partnerships for all of the company's properties, including SFS Management Services, a facility management firm that manages the Sioux Falls Ice & Recreation Center. In his new role, he will continue to manage all corporate partnerships along with all day-to-day functions of the company.

"The additional duties for Loria came after a couple of months of analyzing the workings of our front office staff with the goal, much like a sports team, of playing each of them to their core strengths," added Weckwerth. "Jim will continue to manage his extensive client base, but lead our new sales team and work closely with me on strategic initiatives. Jim has been with multiple junior, minor pro and four National Hockey League teams in his career. He's our go to guy."

Weckwerth assumed the role of President/CEO of the company with the addition of the Pheasants in 2009. He will relinquish the president's title and remain as the CEO/Managing Partner for Sioux Falls Sports.

In other staffing news, Lacey Fredrick has joined the company as Director of Game Promotions on a full-time basis. She was originally with the Pheasants in 2010 on a consulting basis. Tim Barth has resigned his position as Vice President of Business Operations, and the company wishes him well in his future endeavors.

The current staff consists of Jim Olander, Vice President of Broadcast/Media Relations, Adam Peterman, Director of Baseball Operations and Brittany Young, Director of Hockey Game Operations. Larry McKenney begins his 19th year in Sioux Falls minor league baseball. He will continue his role as Director of Stadium Operations and sales executive. Matt Ferguson joined the company in July of 2010 as an account executive and Wendy Loria is the Director of Ticketing/Office Manager.

Sioux Falls Sports, LLC incorporated in 1998 and has owned and operated two United States Hockey League franchises. Sioux Falls (1998-current), Sioux City (2000-02). Their teams have won two Clark Cups and one Anderson Cup in the USHL. In its first year of minor league baseball, the team compiled a 63-33 record, won both halves, and advanced to the American Association Championship Series before falling to Shreveport. The Sioux Falls Stampede was twice (2002 & 2006) named the USHL Organization of the Year.


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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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