INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – When the best girls softball teams in Florida win their championship games next spring they will be jumping up and down and screaming for joy at Vero Beach Sports Village.
At a press conference Monday Tom Colucci, executive director of the Treasure Coast Sports Commission, announced a three-year deal with the Florida High School Athletic Association that will bring 32 teams to the former Dodgertown facility for a four-day championship tournament May 8-11, 2013.
“I am not sure everyone knows what this means,” said County Commissioner Peter O’ Bryan who joined Colucci, County Administrator Joe Baird, Assistant County Administrator Michael Zito and youth athletic officials to make the announcement. “There will be 600 players and coaches accompanied by a lot of family and friends coming to Indian River County to see what we have to offer. It will be a great opportunity for us to showcase the kind of community and quality of life we have here.”
Rich Nalbandian, Treasure Coast Sports Commission assistant director, said attendees are likely to book as many as 800 nights in local hotels, right at the time when the hospitality business traditionally enters its post season doldrums.
Colucci said he expects between 4,000 and 6,000 spectators, depending on how many of the competing teams are local enough for their fans to drive in for the day. At $9 a pop, ticket sales are expected to generate between $40,000 and $50,000 in revenue that will go back to the FHSAA to support its softball program.
“We are going to promote this heavily and we hope to have the community come out and watch,” Colucci said.
Sports Village Vice President Craig Callan said the VBSV will earn money from concession sales. He and others stressed the high level of cooperation between city, county, school and sports organizations that helped win the multi-year contract for Vero Beach.
“Everybody has worked together,” he said.
“Everyone has been behind this 1,000 percent,” said Nalbandian, who is serving as event manager.
Dale Klaus, FHSAA director of athletics, said his organization considered a number of bids before settling on VBSV because of the quality of the facility and level of enthusiasm and interagency cooperation.
“I know our girls from around the state will be treated great here,” he said. “This is something they will remember all their lives.”
“Vero Beach Sports Village is the reason we are here,” said Colucci.
Teams will compete in eight classifications based on school size with four games going on simultaneously at the new cloverleaf of youth baseball fields built by the county last year.
O’Bryan said the simultaneous play will add to the fun and excitement of the event.
“You’ll hear a roar form another field and look over to see what just happened there,” he said. “It helps create a sense of momentum.”
Home to Dodgers spring training camp for 60 years up until 2008, the Vero Beach Sports Village property is now owned by the county. It leases the facility to an operating partnership formed earlier this year by Minor League Baseball, former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley, his sister Terry Seidler and former Dodgers pitchers Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo.
