1st – AAU National Age Group Championships and Visit Springfield Illinois
Springfield, Ill. enjoyed an amazing two-week event in June-July 2022. The capital city, home to our 16th president Abraham Lincoln, hosted back-to-back national AAU/USA Gymnastic National Championships. It was a packed house in downtown Springfield for almost two weeks straight, resulting in more than $2 million in economic impact to the area. Visit Springfield provided strong communication to area business partners in preparation for this large VIP event, which proved to be a success as businesses were welcoming and full of true Springfield hospitality. In return, AAU provided a tremendous donation to a local charity for at risk youth in the city. This was collected were from AAU along with their participating gyms. The event ran smoothly in this town rich with history. The small-town hospitality mixed with a big-city like arena was an amazing experience.
2nd – Rob Thomas with ISSA and the Richmond Classics 80
The ISSA has many senior teams playing in its programs and the Richmond Classics are one of them. Most of its players have been playing in ISSA tournaments for most of the organization’s existence. Seven years ago, the Richmond Region Tourism group approached ISSA, proposing to bring their world championship tournament to Richmond, Va. Since then, it has become a favorite destination for most senior softball teams/players and now annually draws more than 100 teams to the region in August for the world championship tournament tour.
3rd – The Ripken Experience, Pigeon Forge and City of Pigeon Forge
As one of the most popular sports complexes in the country, The Ripken Experience, Pigeon Forge, confirmed an expansion this year to accommodate the demand. In partnership with Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Ripken Baseball is adding renovated fields located at Wear Farm City Park. The park’s four fields will be completely upgraded and reimagined prior to the start of the 2023 season. Similar to the original six fields at The Ripken Experience, Pigeon Forge—which opened in 2016—each field at Wear Farm City Park will be a youth replica of famous MLB parks of the past and present. In 2022, The Ripken Experience, Pigeon Forge was responsible for $34 million in economic impact for the region. Attracting teams and their families from across the country, the complex hosted 1,000 teams, 15,000 players and coaches, and more than 50,000 visitors this year. Ripken Baseball sold out age groups and events across the programming year.
