Around the Upstate

Tyger River Park Hosts the National Softball Association Girls’ Fast Pitch World Series A & B Class Starting Sunday

7,000 Visitors Expected to Hit the Upstate

SPARTANBURG, SC - July 21, 2012 - The effects of youth sports tourism as a result of the opening of Tyger River Park will be evident this weekend. Over 160 teams flanked by their coaches and families will converge on the Upstate this weekend as teams from Florida to Maine could be visiting the area for the first time. Tyger River Park has been booked since opening mid-March with 65 tournaments being held over a 40-week period in 2012 but this coming week is important as it is a National World Series event that spans a week. Just ask the hoteliers how this one tournament is having an impact on business. Over 1,500 rooms with more than 7,000 room nights are booked in the Upstate and all of these visitors will be out and about looking for places to eat and things to do.

As a part of securing this national tournament, the County was required to agree to host a signature event for the visitors. The event will be hosted in downtown Spartanburg at Barnet Park. During the process of planning, Spartanburg County and City of Spartanburg officials came together and partnered on creating the event. The City of Spartanburg’s special events staff graciously took the lead on planning a street festival dubbed Hubapalooza to show off Spartanburg. The Hubapalooza event will be held on Wednesday, July 25th from 5-9 P.M.  Local bands and acts along with a Kenyan acrobatic team will be entertaining on four stages while local organizations are coming out to welcome the guests with lots of fun-filled attractions including gaming trucks, inflatables, crafts, give-aways, dunking and photo booths. The area will also be full of food and other vendors. Although the event is not being promoted locally, it is not closed to the public. Spartanburg County is extremely thankful for the support of the City of Spartanburg and community organizations and businesses that are coming out to welcome this group and help provide an enjoyable evening.

The players are girls ranging in age from 8-18 and classified in 10&U, 12&U, 14&U, 16&U and 18&U classes. The fields are available for scrimmages on Sunday and check-in begins at 10:30 A.M. on Monday, July 23rd, at the District 5 Fine Arts Center. First pitches for the tournament will be thrown out at 2 P.M. on Monday. For the public, there is no admissions fee for these events and anyone that would like to attend on any day is encouraged to do so.

Teams attending the tournament are as follows: Indiana (28), Illinois (25), NC (20), Ohio (15), Virginia (14), Michigan (11), Florida (9), Maryland (6), Georgia (6), SC (5), Pennsylvania (5), Kentucky (4), Massachusetts (3), Louisiana (3), NY (2), Tennessee (2), Connecticut (1), Missouri (1)

Website for more information on NSA: www.nsafastpitchworldseries.com
East Coast VP for NSA: David Butler, coda4@playersls.com, 704-596-2270

For more information, http://www.spartanburgparks.org