BRYAN, Texas — Sports are making their way back to Bryan-College Station, beginning with the Texas State Championships.
“This is actually an 8th annual event that we’ve been partnered with the city of College Station and Bryan for this event. We were super excited to get back out on the field and have an opportunity to host some teams and do what we love, which is play the game of softball," said Cowart Sports Events president Cindy Cowart.
The Texas State Championships brings 96 softball teams from all around the state of Texas to compete this weekend in a tournament.
“It is what we call a progressive bracket system, so even though we have 96 teams that are playing, they’re playing across 16 fields. There is never more than two teams per field per complex in the facility at one time. When those games are concluded, they’ll leave the complex and they’ll come back three or four hours later for another game," said Cowart.
Ensuring the safety and health for all players and visitors is very important. This year’s tournament looks a little different from previous ones.
“Pre- COVID, teams would have established themselves to warm up their team and they would come and congregate in front of the field they were going to play on, waiting for the other game to conclude. Now we have specific areas that are marked and designated for them to do their warm ups and then a separate area for them to come and do what we call stage. What that means is they’re waiting to have that ability to take the field once the other game is concluded and we have separate ins and outs for each of the teams so they don’t come together as they are trying to enter and exit the field, so that’s different," said Cowart.
This three day tournament isn’t only a fun time for the girls to get back on the field, but it also provides a great economic impact to Bryan-College Station.
“We predict about a 1.7 million dollar impact. Obviously, post-March we don’t know if that number is going to be met fully. We’re still studying the spending pattern for events coming now, but anything we can bring to our community and help that recovery process, we are super excited about," said Experience BCS sports director Dominique Powell.
In preparation for future sporting events this summer, this weekend is a great guinea pig to study how the local economy will benefit post shelter-in-place.
“Those that are comfortable, those that are healthy we want them here. We want them to spend their money in our community and we want them having a good time. This is the first one back. Even though we have little jitters, we’re excited, we’re excited to see kids out here having a good time, competing, doing what they love and their parents being able to cheer them on and our community being able to see that impact," said Powell.
Games are taking place all weekend at four different complexes across Bryan- College Station.
To ensure the health of everyone at the games, each person’s temperature is taken when they enter the facility and coaches must verbally affirm everyday that their players are safe to play.
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