Searcy Hosts First Travel Baseball Tournament
Searcy Recreational Sports League hosted its first travel baseball tournament this past weekend bringing in an estimated 2,000 visitors to Searcy. The League’s goal for the tournament was to have at least 25 teams participate, and it exceeded that goal with 47 teams being in attendance.
“Having a travel baseball tournament in Searcy has been a dream of mine and many other community members for a long time,” Searcy Recreational Sports League Director, Rigel Page said. “It made me so excited for the future of our program to see how well attended the tournament was.”
Travel baseball tournaments are hosted across the state nearly every weekend. Cities compete to bring the tournaments to their town, and with the help of the Searcy A&P Commission, Searcy was able to offer amenities that attracted teams.
“Teams have so many options for tournaments, so our goal was to create an experience that was different than other tournaments,” Page said. “By doing this, we ensure teams want to continue coming back to Searcy for future tournaments.”
Among those perks were free registration for teams, experienced umpires, crews to maintain fields between games, transportation from the parking lot, scorekeepers, and free baseballs.
“These perks might seem minor, but they make a big difference to the coaches, players and fans,” Page said. “Without the support of A&P, we probably could not have hosted the tournament at all, but we certainly could not have offered the perks that helped us draw in the crowds.”
The Searcy A&P Commission voted in January to provide $49,840 to support the tournaments.
“The goal of the A&P Commission is to support local events and projects that promote our community and bring business to our city,” Chris Howell, A&P Commissioner said. “We were proud of the success of the first tournament and are excited to see how these tournaments impact our community in a positive way.”
Additional tournaments will be held at the Searcy Sports Complex April 9-10, April 23-24, May 14-15, May 28-29, June 4-5 and June 18-19.
Photos submitted by Al Fowler.