Let the games begin: A guide to the venues, sports
The World Games are returning to the United States for the first time since 1981 — the first year the event was held — and Birmingham is playing host.
Unique sports such as wheelchair rugby and sport climbing are featured, as well as traditional sports like softball and gymnastics.
These sports will be hosted at more than a dozen venues around the Birmingham metropolitan area.
For details, including times and tickets, go to twg2022.com/venues.
BJCC
The venues at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, 1 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N., will consist of the Exhibition Halls, the Concert Hall, Legacy Arena and Protective Stadium, as well as the nearby Sheraton Ballroom.
► Exhibition Halls: The BJCC Exhibition Halls will host three events — bowling, floorball and korfball.
Bowling teams will compete in singles and doubles matches playing traditional 10-pin games. The qualifying rounds begin July 8 for singles and July 9 for doubles.
Floorball is a form of floor hockey that involves two teams aiming to get a small plastic ball into the other team’s goal. The first qualifying game is July 8.
Korfball is similar to basketball and netball with teams of eight players, four males and four females. The first two matches will be played July 13.
► Legacy Arena: The arena will host two events — dancesport and gymnastics.
Dancesport dancers will compete in rock‘n’roll; standard dancing, which includes waltz, tango and foxtrot; and Latin dancing, which includes samba, rumba and jive. Qualifying rounds begin on July 8.
Six disciplines of gymnastics will be featured including acrobatic, aerobic, trampoline, tumbling and rhythmic gymnastics. The first round for aerobic and rhythmic gymnastics will be July 12 and acrobatic and trampoline gymnastics will start July 15.
► Concert Hall: The powerlifting competition will be hosted in the Concert Hall. This competition will consist of three types of lifting — squats, bench and the dead lift — all with the goal of performing a single lift with the greatest weight on the barbell. The first qualifying round will be July 8.
► Sheraton Ballroom: Billiards — the competition in cue sports, such as nine-ball pool, carom and snooker — will begin July 13.
► Protective Stadium: Birmingham’s new open-air stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies of The World Games, as well as a racing event, but not the kind you’re probably thinking. The stadium will host one of two airsports for the Games: drone racing. Pilots race their drones around a course featuring gates and obstacles to cross the finish line with the fastest time. The first race will be on July 9.
Boutwell Auditorium
Boutwell Auditorium, 1930 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd., will serve as the venue for most of the martial arts events at the Games including three combat sports: Muay Thai, kickboxing and sumo.
► Muay Thai: Muay Thai requires stand-up striking and clinching techniques. It’s known as the “Art of Eight Limbs” because fighters use their fists, elbows, shins and knees. The quarterfinal round will be held July 15.
► Kickboxing: Similar to Muay Thai, kickboxing is another sport where opponents punch and kick each other. The Games will feature K1 Rules, in which both fighters use legal hand and foot techniques. The first qualifying round will be July 13.
► Sumo: Wrestlers will aim to either push each other out of the 4.55-meter ring or force their opponent to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet. Sumo wrestlers wear a loin cloth when they’re wrestling, and women wear leotards underneath theirs. The first qualifying round will be July 9.
Railroad Park
Railroad Park — situated along 1st Avenue South, between 14th and 18th Streets — will feature two competitions open to the public free of cost: duathlon (an athletic event that consists of a running leg; a cycling leg; and a final, second running leg) and orienteering sprint relay.
Avondale Park
Avondale Park is a 40-acre park at 4101 Fifth Ave. S. in Birmingham’s colorful Avondale neighborhood. It will host the archery events for the Games, including field and target archery. The first matches will be held July 8.
Birmingham CrossPlex
The Birmingham CrossPlex will host a great lineup of unique sports: artistic roller skating, inline hockey, canoe polo, finswimming, lifesaving and wheelchair rugby.
UAB
One of the premier medical universities in the country, the University of Alabama at Birmingham — located south of the Parkside and Midtown areas — will provide several venues for The World Games 2022.
► PNC Field: Home to the UAB soccer teams, PNC Field will host the lacrosse competitions.
► Track and Field: The UAB Track and Field facility will host the tug of war competition, in which two teams of eight, whose total mass must not exceed a class maximum weight, pull on opposite ends of a rope in a classic battle of strength.
► University Recreation Center: The racquetball and squash competitions will take place on the courts and gymnasiums of the university's recreation center.
► Bessie Estell Park: A 5.2-acre park near the campus will host the boules sports competitions, including Lyonnaise and Pétanque. In boules sports, competitors attempt to roll or throw heavy balls as close as possible to a target.
Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham-Southern College, a highly acclaimed liberal arts college at 900 Arkadelphia Road, will host five competitions — ju-jitsu, karate, fistball, wushu and orienteering sprint — starting July 8.
Legion Field
Legion Field, a legendary football stadium open since 1927, has hosted hundreds of college and professional games and will now be the site of the flag football competitions in The World Games beginning July 10. The stadium is located at 400 Graymont Ave. W.
Sloss Furnaces
This historic pig iron-producing furnace will host the breaking (or breakdancing) competitions of dancesports as well as beach handball, sport climbing and parkour (a gymnastics discipline). The first qualifying round for breaking will be July 9, beach handball will kick off on July 11, the first round for sport climbing will be July 14, and parkour will start July 10.
Powell Steam Plant
Originally, this venue provided electricity to Birmingham. Now, it’s the venue for this year’s speed skating event starting July 8.
Barber Motorsports Park
Barber Motorsports Park is home to the largest motorcycle collection in the world and is also connected to its own racetrack. The park will host the second of the airsports at the Games: canopy piloting. In this event, parachutists jump out of a plane into a “swooping pond” and earn points based on speed, accuracy and distance. Freestyle canopy parachutists are judged by presentation, difficulty and landing. The first competition will be July 10.
Hoover Met Stadium
Built in 1988, the Hoover Met Stadium at 5508 Stadium Trace Parkway has a capacity of nearly 11,000 for softball and will host the softball competition for the Games beginning July 9. The United States, Japan and six other countries will take part. Eight members from the 2020 U.S. Olympic roster who won the silver medal in Tokyo will be on Team USA at the competition in Birmingham.
John Carroll Catholic High School
John Carroll Catholic High School will host the ultimate flying disc competition starting July 12 where two teams will attempt to move a flying disc, or Frisbee, down a field into the opposing team’s end zone.