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GREENSBORO — The man behind the scenes of some of Greensboro's biggest sporting events is resigning after seven years as president of the Greensboro Sports Commission.

Marc Bush said Thursday he will step down next month, but will still help the commission as a volunteer and, possibly, as a board member.

Bush said he was leaving "because the time was right for me to make a change."

"There's no other job," he said. "I just reached the stage in my life that I'd like to do some other things and accomplish other things."

Dick Grubar, chairman of the board for the commission, said board members are debating whether to replace Bush with a local candidate or look nationally. Either way, he said, Bush will be hard to replace.

"I'm not excited about it but I certainly understand and appreciate what Marc has done for us," Grubar said. "When you compare us to other sports commissions of the same size and budget I'd say we're in the top three or four and maybe the best."

Bush said he's leaving at the right time. The city is in the midst of a run of several high-profile sporting events:

l The ACC men's basketball tournament will be played here for five of the next six years.

l The ACC women's tournament will be held here through 2015.

l The USGA's Public Links Amateur golf championship will be played at Bryan Park next summer.

l The U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in 2011.

But it's the smaller, youth events that Bush says he's most proud of attracting to Guilford County. The sports commission is made up of a group of business leaders who strive to bring sporting events — and the money they bring — to the city. Often it's the smaller events that generate the most revenue.

Greensboro just finished hosting the Junior Olympics National Track & Field Championships at N.C. A&T, an event that drew more than 6,000 athletes and their families to the city.

The Score Showcase, a 250-team soccer tournament at Bryan Park, just wrapped up the second year of a 10-year deal.

"If the sports commission has a real focus, it's to attract youth and amateur sports because those are the folks who spend money when they come to town," Bush said.

Last year the commission attracted more than 80 events to Greensboro and Guilford County. When factoring in hotel rooms, meals and shopping by outsiders, those events had an economic impact of about $141 million, Bush said.

The economy has made it harder to attract events this year, but Bush said the financial impact of those events "will still be not a whole lot less than last year."

Buoyed by successes of similar organizations in Indianapolis, Atlanta and San Jose, cities rushed to create organizations to attract sporting events. Greensboro's commission began in 1987. Bush replaced Tom Ward as president in 2002. Before that Bush worked in economic development with the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greensboro Coliseum, where he managed the tournament host committee for college athletic events —- a volunteer job he wants to continue doing.

Grubar said Bush told the board two years ago he was thinking of stepping down. Grubar and Bush said the job is anything but a 9-to-5 position given most sporting events go on day and night — frequently on weekends.

Bush is usually at most of them, helping volunteer in some fashion. Indeed, he'll be volunteering at next week's Wyndham Championship.

Bush's last day is Sept. 10.

Grubar said it might be difficult to find quality national candidates to replace Bush. "It's not a normal job with normal hours," he said. "There's a lot of work involved and we don't necessarily have the budget to compensate someone accordingly for all the time they'll be putting in."

Bush was paid $84,500 last year, according to the nonproft commission's tax reports.

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com