Sports in EI Paso

El Paso, Texas is a proud sports community. With over 310 sunny days each year, locals enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits including hiking, running, cycling, soccer and football. El Paso is an outstanding golf community with a number of public and private golf courses offering year-round golfing opportunities.

The University of Texas at El Paso has a long sporting tradition dating back to when the school was

called the Texas College of Mines and later Texas Western College. Sports buffs may remember Texas Western winning the 1966 NCAA championships in basketball under legendary Coach Don Haskins. Haskins started five black players the night Texas Western won the title over the University of Kentucky, which was unprecedented for the sport at the time. A movie about Haskins’ heroics and the feat of the Miners players is the subject of a major motion picture by Disney that is soon to hit the theaters. The movie is called “Glory Road” and stars Josh Lucas as Coach Haskins.

El Paso is also the home of a number of well-known golfers including Kristi Albers, Rich Beem, J.P. Hayes and Lee Treviño. Kristi Albers, a former All-American, All-Conference player for the University of New Mexico, won the 1993 Sprint Classic on the LPGA Tour. Rich Beem won the 2002 PGA Championship in a one-stroke victory over Tiger Woods. J.P. Hayes, former UTEP golfer, won the 1998 Buick Classic and the 2002 John Deere Classic. And the legendary Lee Treviño, who won 29 PGA championship titles over 16 years, and 29 PGA Champions Tour titles over 10 years, got his start as a golf pro in El Paso back in 1960. A major road is named for him on El Paso’s east side.

With such an amazing sports history, it makes sense for El Paso to be the heartbeat of the Southwest’s sporting community. Consider El Paso for your next tournament – your participants, fans and families will enjoy an experience they remember forever.