Look for more out of town visitors playing baseball and soccer in the twin cities later this year.
B/CS Convention and Visitors Bureau President Shannon Overby says College Station will be hosting six baseball tournaments for the United States Specialty Sports Association between March and August, each featuring up to 70 teams.
And details are being finalized for hosting a major soccer qualifying tournaments with an organization that plays in the United States and Mexico.
Click below for comments from Shannon Overby, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver.
News release courtesy of the B/CS Convention and Visitor’s Bureau:
While the first weeks of the year are typically slow for most in Bryan-College Station as college students prepare to return to town and vacations come to an end, the sports staff for the Bryan-College Station Convention & Visitors Bureau (BCSCVB) along with the parks and recreation staff from College Station are starting out the year with a full head of steam.
Residents can expect to see athletic complexes full in March through August of 2015 as six United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) baseball tournaments have been booked for the coming Summer months, along with a major soccer qualifying tournament for the Premier Soccer Services Copa Rayados Internacional.
“Landing these sports tournaments for 2015 is huge for our cities,” said Kindra Fry, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the BCSCVB. “This is a great example of the city and our sports staff working side by side to bring in major events like these that will continue to pump dollars into our economy. We’re excited to host these great organizations, and hope this continues to open doors for us to land more.”
The USSSA baseball events will take place between March and August of 2015, with six different events occurring. The tournaments could feature up to 70 teams each, and will be hosted in College Station. The soccer qualifying tournament will take place in May, and will feature more than 80 teams. Between the two organizations and their respective tournaments, thousands of players, coaches, support staff, family and spectators will filter into Bryan-College Station for multiple days.
“This just goes along with the trend we saw in 2014 where we almost doubled the amount of athletic events here in Aggieland,” said J.D. Wood, Tourism Manager in the Parks & Recreation division at the City of College Station. “The hand-in-hand partnership between the City of College Station and CVB is helping establish us as a top destination and set us apart from other cities.”
The BCSCVB sports staff – which is comprised by Fry, John Friebele and Dominique Powell – works closely with the City of College Station and City of Bryan parks and recreation staff to bring sports tournaments to the twin cities in order to add economic impact to the city by utilizing available athletic and park facilities. Sports tournaments bring millions of dollars of economic impact annually to the area.