Carolina Panthers founder and owner Jerry Richardson, left, chats with wide receiver Ricky Proehel before the Panthers' first Super Bowl appearance.  The Panthers hold summer training camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC.

Team Spartanburg got its start in the early 1990s, when the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce and its Spartanburg Convention & Visitors Bureau partnered with the City of Spartanburg, the County of Spartanburg and local business and community leaders to lend support to the bid by businessman Jerry Richardson to gain a NFL franchise for the Carolinas.

The group organized events to prove to the NFL that the Carolinas market would be a good one, and the bid was successful.  After the awarding of the franchise, Team Spartanburg set about the successful effort to have Wofford College in Spartanburg named the summer training camp for the Carolina Panthers, and began the task to prepare the community for being the host to both the Panthers and to the visitors who would come.

Along the way, Team Spartanburg also partnered with other entities to attract the German Men's Gymnastics Olympics team and the U.S. Men's Gymnastics Olympics teams to hold training here, and worked with local groups to bring the Junior Olympic National Cross Country Championships (199) to the community.

Now, as the sports council for Spartanburg, Team Spartanburg's mission is to promote Spartanburg as a destination for sports events.

The community has hosted the Pan American Games for the Blind (2001), and Team Spartanburg has assisted such events as the Rebel Invitational Wrestling Tournament, the Bobby Chapman Jr. Golf Invitational, the Rotary Stump Jump, and the Dixie Girls Debs and Ponytails Fastpitch World Series, along with the National Softball Association Tournament and World Series.

In 2003, Team Spartanburg put in a successful bid for Spartanburg to host the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, the prestigious high school all-star football game, beginning in December 2004.  The council also was successful in bringing in the Carolinas Virginia Athletic Association's baseball tournament in April 2004 and the National Goalball Championship in June 2004.

As always, Team Spartanburg will continue assisting with the Carolina Panthers training camp as the NFC South Champions return to the Wofford campus.