SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Sweetwater Events Complex Board recently heard from ten local groups requesting winter dates in the Indoor Arena at their monthly meeting on September 26, 2017. The ten groups requesting dates came to speak to the Board because the Indoor Arena schedule is out of available rental dates due to increasing demand.

The Indoor Arena is home to many different events such as Rock Springs Motocross Arenacross, Team Roping, Team Sorting, barrel races, 4-H events and clinics, Southwest Wyoming BMX Races, Wild West Gymkhana, R & R Rodeo and more.

Over the past few years, The Sweetwater Events Complex has been able to work with all the local groups to schedule the events, but this year proved more difficult because there was interest from additional groups along with requests of additional rentals from existing groups. Kandi Pendleton, Sweetwater Events Complex Marketing & Event Manager, explained, “Often times these groups work together and share the Indoor Arena over the weekends which helps with scheduling. This year has been harder because there is more interest from our regular groups to rent the arena as well as new events wanting to rent the facility. We will work with each group to try to meet the demand as best as we can but there’s certainly going to have to be some compromises.”

The focus of the Sweetwater Events Complex staff and board is to continue to book diverse events that bring participants from local and regional areas. Being able to use the arena for equine groups as well as motocross and BMX is important to our community. During the Board meeting, groups like Team Sorting, Team Roping, and the Spring Series Barrel Racing had requested additional dates and moving dates from a Friday-Saturday event to a Saturday-Sunday event to increase participation both locally and regionally. One of the new event requests came from Shelly McAdams a barrel racing promoter from Sublette County. Initially she requested dates for November through March but withdrew her request after seeing the demand for dates.

Since the meeting, Sweetwater Events Complex staff have been working with the groups to finalize a schedule for the Winter Arena Rentals. Pendleton said, “We have managed to come up with a schedule, but each year it is getting harder and harder due to the increasing demand. We just don’t have enough room, we wish we did, but unfortunately we have to work with what we have.”

The Sweetwater Events Complex is Wyoming’s Premier Event Center and hosts more than 840 events each year. For a complete list of all the events at the Sweetwater Events Complex visit www.SweetwaterEvents.com.

Winter Indoor Arena Schedule