|
In 1999, unable to find a good travel package for a Dallas
Cowboys game she wanted to attend, Stengele decided to create a website for
dedicated fans to find football travel packages and tickets. The site quickly
took off and in 2000 she founded her company, Sports Traveler. Later she
expanded its website to include sporting event travel options for all types of
fans to every major sporting event.
Sports Traveler has traveled thousands of fans to many of
the top sporting events around the globe. The company annually hosts travelers
at the Masters Golf Tournament, the BCS National Championship, and the Super
Bowl, as well as many games and events in Chicago. In 2008, the company packed
up for Beijing, China and the 2008 Olympic Games to escort travelers attending
from Europe, Australia, South America, and the United States. Future events
globally include the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa, and the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
In 2006, while attending the FIFA World Cup in Germany,
Stengele launched Sports Traveler Radio, a podcast program
hosted by professional radio personalities. The show
includes interviews on location from sporting event host cities and special
feature segments devoted to fan travel. The show is found on iTunes and can also
be downloaded for free from the SportsTraveler.net website.
Stengele has contributed her insights on the sports tourism
industry on numerous radio and television shows. She and her company have been
featured in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York
Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Crain’s Chicago
Business, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic Traveler,
Men’s Journal, and Best Life.
Stengele resides in her hometown of Chicago, and often
attends home games of her favorite Chicago sports teams. She is a competitive
tennis player and enjoys speaking to young people at local schools and
universities on the topics of entrepreneurship and her motto: Live the life
you imagine. She is most thankful to her staff at Sports Traveler and to her
family for their support of her dreams to run a successful business and to write
this book.
She would also like to give a big thank you to her
co-writer Lydia Rypcinski: “Lydia, thank you for sharing your knowledge and
talents with me on this project. This book could not have happened without you.
I have enjoyed learning from you and becoming your friend.”
Lydia Rypcinski is a free-lance journalist who's written
about and reported on international sports competitions on six continents. Her
most recent assignment was serving as sports information specialist in softball
at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She holds a bachelor of
science degree in physical education from Penn State and an M.B.A. from Loyola
University of Chicago; she currently is working on a master's degree in
journalism from Roosevelt University in Chicago. She has won numerous writing
awards from the National Women Bowling Writers, U.S. Bowling Congress,
Professional Bowlers Association, Illinois Women's Press Association and the
National Federation of Press Women. Rypcinski resides in Chicago.
|
