ORLANDO, Florida -- As is often the case in sports, success follows those who keep their eye on the ball.

So it was with the first Division II National Championships Festival. The NCAA championships staff effectively combined with the Central Florida Sports Commission to make certain that the complicated event came off as planned, with properly conducted competition remaining the center of attention.

"This was a huge success," said Championships Committee Chair Joan McDermott, director of athletics at Metropolitan State College of Denver. "It reflects a lot of hard work on the part of the sports commission and the NCAA championships staff, especially Sharon Cessna."

It fell to Cessna, NCAA director of championships, to deal with the one large crisis that accompanied the event. On the eve of the opening ceremonies, a Hilton Hotel that was to co-host the festival mistakenly gave up 200 of the room reservations needed for the event. Cessna immediately began to work with the Central Florida Sports Commission to find alternate accommodations, and by the end of the day had located 200 rooms at the relatively nearby Orlando North Hotel.

Otherwise, the festival rolled along largely problem-free, the result of extensive advance work by the NCAA staff and the sports commission.

Sports commission Executive Director John Saboor was pleased, but not surprised, at the success of the festival.

"This reflects two years of intense planning," he said. "The model for a stand-alone championship is intense enough, but to do six times that amount is Herculean. But we have lots of experience at succeeding with these sorts of events because of the way the sports commission is set up."

Not only did the commission focus its 15-member staff on the event, it also unleashed its army of volunteers. More than 400 people helped administer competition and promote the festival through the successful Adopt-A-Team program. The volunteers were visible at all the sites, serving as everything from ticket takers to fore caddies on the golf courses.

Saboor said Orlando was uniquely positioned to host the inaugural event because of its extensive experience with previous NCAA championships. The city has hosted NCAA competition in various sports over each of the last eight years (and will continue the string next year when its hosts Division II women's volleyball). As if to reinforce the city's flexibility, nearby Rollins College hosted a regional round of the Division II Baseball Championship while the championships festival played out.

"This is what we expected from John and the rest of the sports commission staff," Division II Vice-President Mike Racy said. "If this had been just a single championship, we would have relied almost exclusively on our hosts, Rollins College and the Sunshine State Conference. But with six championships, we relied on the sports commission more than we otherwise would have. In fact, John Saboor and his staff was one of the main reasons that we chose Orlando."

While the NCAA reaped the benefits of a uniquely successful new approach, the Orlando area harvested economic rewards.

Saboor said that the festival resulted in about 5,700 hotel room nights for participants, traveling parties and spectators. Occupancy figures from area hotels suggested about 1,600 visitors beyond competitors, coaches and administrators. He said the economic benefit to Orlando would exceed $2.5 million.

"That's why we jumped at this opportunity," Saboor said. "We thought we were well-positioned through our solid track record. With the NCAA, it was a question of who they trusted to execute their vision. You can have a great plan, but without an effective execution officer, things can get tough."

-- David Pickle