Expected to generate $2.1 million in direct expenditures
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (Sept. 21, 2015) — Owensboro and Evansville, Ind. have been selected as the host sites for the 2016 National Softball Association Girls’ Fast Pitch ‘B’ World Series from July 18-24, 2016. The tournament attracts more than 200 girls’ fast pitch teams from 14 states and Canada.
To accommodate a tournament of this size— more than 23 fields in total are necessary to determine the World Series champions in the 8 & under, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U age divisions—the Evansville Sports Corporation, the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau (Evansville CVB) and the Owensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered for the event. Games will be held in Evansville at Deaconess Sports Park and Vann Road Park Fields and in Owensboro at Panther Creek Park and Owensboro Softball Complex at Jack C. Fisher Park.
The event will be the largest amateur sporting event southwest Indiana has ever hosted, said Jason Sands, executive director of the Evansville Sports Corporation.
“When the Evansville CVB announced we were building the Deaconess Sports Park, we envisioned hosting large national tournaments,” said Bob Warren, executive director of the Evansville CVB. “We expected it would take a few years to make a name for ourselves that would attract a tournament of this stature. But in less than one season, we are happy to report we are well ahead of our projected goals with this sports park. We expect over 8500 total visitors who will generate $2.1 million in direct expenditures for the Evansville/Owensboro region.”
The National Softball Association was established in 1982 and has grown to become a significant amateur sports company in the U.S. They feature girls’ fast pitch as well as men’s adult slow pitch and a boys’ baseball division called the Baseball Players Association.
“We understand the significance that recreational tourism and sporting events like the NSA ‘B’ World Series have on our city and we staunchly support those events in Owensboro, embracing the benefits they generate for our economy,” said Owensboro Mayor Ron Payne. “The NSA ‘B” event is especially exciting as it is the first partnership of this magnitude between our two communities and I believe it can be the first of many.”
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