Elizabethtown Sports Park will be one of the four facilities to host the Ripken Experience in 2023. The event will be held from April to October and it will offer youth baseball and softball players to experience what it would be like to play in the major leagues. The event is expected to host 1,500 different teams and bring in over 100,000 people to the park over the seven months that it will be running. The Ripken Experience will be leaving a lasting impact on the players and family members of players who attend as well as making a huge economic impact on the Elizabethtown community.

Sand Mountain Park & Amphitheater will soon be home to the largest real outdoor ice rink in north Alabama. Starting on November 18th, construction will begin on the new Sand Mountain Skate. The rink will be 4,000 square feet and will be large enough to fit 375 skaters at once. The rink will host public skate sessions, birthday parties, corporate events, holiday light shows, Santa Claus appearances, and movie showings. Rentals will be available for skates and skating aids and there will even be a concession stand and bar for onlookers to enjoy.

The Bridge Sports Complex hosted the 5th annual West Virginia Diabetic Walk for Wellness last Saturday. The event was hosted by Webster Insurance Agency and it was meant to promote diabetic wellness while raising awareness through education. The Inited Hospital Center provided a display that shows how much sugar is in some items that we consume often. All donations from the event were sent to the Diabetic Association to help pay for testing, equipment, and anything to find a cure.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RJWUH) Somerset has officially opened a new location inside of Iron Peak Sports & Events. The RWJBarnabas health facility is bringing their health services to New Jersey’s premiere sports, events, and family entertainment venue to offer athletic training and community health initiatives to the Hillsborough, NJ area and visiting athletes. The location will serve as a place for Iron Peak’s athletes and partners to receive athletic training services and for the RWJUH Somerset Community Health Department to use for community outreach initiatives such as education programs and health screenings.

Back in 2021, MetroFamily Magazine announced their list of the best family friendly businesses in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. On that list of 2021 Family Favorites, Pelican Bay Aquatic Center was named the “Best Place to Swim”. The facility was also named one of the “Three Best Amusement Parks” in Oklahoma City by the experts at “Three Best Rated”. Pelican Bay Aquatic Center features two 150 ft. water slides, diving boards, a current channel, an aquatic climbing wall, a splash pool, playground, concessions, and bathhouses.

Legends Event Center in Bryan, Texas is on track to open this year. The $40 million, 120,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be finished by December 2nd of this year. The facility will feature 8 basketball courts, 16 volleyball courts, an arcade, a turf area for special programming, meeting/party rooms, concessions, a kitchen for catering companies, a lake, and an outdoor patio area. The facility has already partnered with one of the largest volleyball clubs, Houston Skyline BCS, so there will be several teams of young ladies competing in the facility on the day that the doors open.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the city of Hoover have agreed in principle to extend the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for at least 2 more years through 2024. The contract was originally set to expire in 2021, but since the tournament was cancelled in 2020, the two parties agreed to keep the agreement in place for the 2022 tournament. The 2022 tournament championship game was between the Florida Gators and the Tennessee Volunteers and it drew a crowd of 13,270 people to the Hoover Met Stadium. Now the SEC and the city of Hoover have agreed to a new two-year extension which will last through the 2024 season.

Rocky Top Sports World has set a new economic impact record for the second year in a row. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the complex contributed $46.9 million in economic impact, but in the 2021-2022 fiscal year they contributed $55.6 million in economic impact! The facility hosted more than 75 tournaments and camps during the year including the Kohl’s Kicking National Elite Camp and National Scholarship Camp. Kohl’s Kicking Camps brought in athletes from 3 divisions including professional, collegiate, and high school. In just their 8th year of business, Rocky Top Sports World has grown to become one of the nations most attractive venues for travel sports bringing people from nearly all 50 states and several countries down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

William Mayhall, Jr. has been hired by the city of Gardendale to be the General Manager of the newly revamped Bill Noble Park. The $32 million park project will feature nine baseball fields, eight tennis courts, 11 pickle ball courts, synthetic turf fields for football, lacrosse, and soccer, a state of the art playground, and an indoor community center. Before becoming the General Manager of Bill Noble Park, Will was working in the events department of the Hoover Met Complex located in Hoover, Alabama. Will has over 15 years of experience in the youth and professional sports industries and he is excited to continue his career as the General Manager of Bill Noble Park.

Golden Gate High School has partnered with Paradise Coast Sports Complex to offer the G.A.T.E. (Greater Achievement Through Empowerment) program to their students with disabilities. The program allows the students to participate in a work-study experience that helps to prepare them for future career opportunities. Students will be able to practice their work-related skills in a part time position at the sports complex for part of their school day. This part time program prepares students for their future full-day work programs.

Located just north of Birmingham, AL, the City of Gardendale broke ground on the $32 million redevelopment of Bill Noble Park. The sports complex will become a year-round destination for sports tourism and the local community to enjoy equally. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 2, 2022, on the site of Bill Noble Park. Construction already started this spring on the sports complex which will feature nine baseball/softball fields, eight tennis courts, eleven pickleball courts and so much more. The venue is slated to be completed by spring 2023.

E-Town Sports Park was one of the first sports facilities built specifically for sports tourism. Now, 10 years later, the impact of the decision by city leaders to invest in sports tourism continues to be felt. E-Town Sports Park was at the forefront of sports tourism when it opened and still serves as a model for other destinations.