Connect Sports, a Chattanooga based event management company, will be driving sports tourism this weekend with their highly anticipated Scenic City Summer Showcase.
470 out-of-town teams with over 20,000 people will descend on the Chattanooga region to play select softball in front of over 400 college softball coaches and administration looking to fill their future recruiting classes.
“Chattanooga and the surrounding cities’ investment in softball has made it possible for us to host the largest fastpitch softball showcase east of the Rocky Mountains,” says Jeremy Higdon of Connect Sports. “Young women’s lives will be forever changed by the opportunity to play college softball due to this tournament. There are hundreds of people, past and present, that have contributed to making this event what it has become.”
14 & under through 18 & under fastpitch softball girls’ teams from 35 states primarily come to the scenic city to be recruited by college coaches, but also to compete for the prestigious title of becoming the 2024 Scenic City Summer Champion. Every team will play into a bracket, allowing each team the opportunity to win it all.
This year, teams, parents, families, and residents will also have the chance to watch some of their favorite and well known Professional Athletes on the fields, too! This new opportunity, the Coca Cola Scenic City Pro Cup, will bring in four professional fastpitch teams from the Association of Fastpitch Professionals (AFP) league to play an 8 game series that runs concurrent with Scenic City Summer.
Chattanooga’s first ever professional softball team, the Chattanooga Steam, will be competing on the field against the Oklahoma City Spark, the Florida Vibe, and the New York Rise. This event will be held at Warner Park at Frost Stadium starting on Wednesday, June 19th and runs through Saturday, June 22nd.
Interested in attending? All games are open to the public. Tickets are available online for the Coca Cola Scenic City Pro Cup, a series of eight games. For more information and to claim tickets, visit the Chattanooga Steam’s website at https://steamfastpitch.com/ .
With all things softball going on, some may wonder, “Why Chattanooga?”. The Chattanooga region is the perfect host with the numerous high quality softball complexes and its reputation as one of the nation’s top outdoor tourism destinations.
“Events like this help drive an economic return on facility upgrades to our sports tournament quality venues,” explains Greta Hayes. “Not only do our residents benefit from the enhanced venues, but we are furthering Chattanooga as a softball destination!”
This Scenic City Summer Showcase has a positive impact for not just Chattanooga and Hamilton County, but throughout East Ridge to Dalton, too.
“The City of East Ridge Parks and Recreation Department is excited to host the Scenic City Summer Showcase again at Camp Jordan. Each summer, this showcase brings in some of the elite girls’ softball teams from around the country," Shawnna Skiles, the City of East Ridge’s Parks and Recreation Director stated. “Connect Sports is one of the largest organizations in the country that is focused on growing the game of softball and we, at East Ridge Parks and Recreation, are glad to call them a great partner within the softball community.”
Margaret Thigpen, Director of Tourism for Dalton-Whitfield states "Groups and events like Connect Sports & the Scenic City Showcase, keeps sports tourism a leader in economic impact for Dalton- Whitfield. This, in turn, helps keep Georgia in the top 10 States across the Nation for economic impact by Sports tourism.”
Jill Higdon says, “With the addition of the Coca-Cola Scenic City Pro Cup, this week really is the Ultimate Fastpitch Experience. Women’s fastpitch enthusiasts can expect to see hundreds of college coaches at the youth games and then make their way to Frost Stadium to watch the pros play and see the highest level of softball out there. Never has there been this much amazing softball in one place in the southeast. I am so proud of the Connect Sports staff and all of the work that has gone into making this week unforgettable for everybody.”
This passion, execution, the drive, combined with regional partnerships and a beautiful destination, is a recipe for success.
“Last year, the Scenic City Summer Showcase hosted over 500 teams, where 488 traveled to stay overnight in our region. This generated over $9.9 million in economic activity for our community. We love supporting one of the largest annual amateur sporting events in Chattanooga,”, says Tim Morgan, Chief Sports Officer with Chattanooga Tourism Co.