Their strength and skill will amaze you, especially when you consider their size. 12,000 of the countries most promising young athletes are going head to head in Des Moines as part of the AAU Junior Olympics.
Nathan Hsu and his family traveled from Maryland so he could compete in table tennis. "Well in the beginning I used to play with my dad on the dining room table," he explained after a match. "Then I started getting really serious during an after-school program."
'Serious' is the name of the game for these kids as they know that among them the nation's future Olympic competitors will likely emerge. "Some of the sports for example track and field are national championships so you will see the absolute best of the best in terms of youth track and field athletes around the United States," said Al Lorenzen of the Des Moines Area Sports Commission.
Lorenzen says its taken the better part of the last three years to prepare for the Junior Olympics. "The impact on small business or retail certainly on hotel business is tremendous. The economic impact will be somewhere in the area of 20 million dollars. This is the third time the metro has hosted the games, and its national chairman says the trend will likely continue.
"People always ask me, 'Why Des Moines.?' I tell them, go there. Once you're there, you'll love it," said Paul Campbell, the National Chairman of the AAU Junior Olympics.
Nathan Hsu and his family traveled from Maryland so he could compete in table tennis. "Well in the beginning I used to play with my dad on the dining room table," he explained after a match. "Then I started getting really serious during an after-school program."
'Serious' is the name of the game for these kids as they know that among them the nation's future Olympic competitors will likely emerge. "Some of the sports for example track and field are national championships so you will see the absolute best of the best in terms of youth track and field athletes around the United States," said Al Lorenzen of the Des Moines Area Sports Commission.
Lorenzen says its taken the better part of the last three years to prepare for the Junior Olympics. "The impact on small business or retail certainly on hotel business is tremendous. The economic impact will be somewhere in the area of 20 million dollars. This is the third time the metro has hosted the games, and its national chairman says the trend will likely continue.
"People always ask me, 'Why Des Moines.?' I tell them, go there. Once you're there, you'll love it," said Paul Campbell, the National Chairman of the AAU Junior Olympics.
