Tournament History
Colorado Crossroads
The Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier is the nation’s second largest indoor volleyball event that is held over two weekends in Denver, CO. The event is in its 26th year of operation and averages 10% growth annually.
In 2010, both weekends combined for over 12,000 players competing on 1,100 teams. Total attendance for the event totaled 55,000, including players, coaches and spectators. Over 70% of the attendees are women and 76% of them are between the ages of 10-30. The participants or their families have considerable discretionary income and time to spend visiting exhibitor booths. 96% of teams spend more than $5000 solely on their travel budgets. 94% of these attendees stay in downtown area hotels within walking distance of the playing venue.
Past exhibitor surveys indicate that online promotion through the Crossroads Connections, a free event newsletter, was the exhibitor’s most successful method of attracting consumers to their booths during the event. Crossroads will continue to highlight exhibitors in this well-read newsletter.
Big South
The Big South National Qualifier is the nation’s largest single-weekend indoor youth sporting event, using over 1,000,000 square feet in the Georgia World Congress Center. The event is in its 21st year of operation and averages 8% growth each year.
Total attendance in 2010 for the 3-day event was more than 49,000 including players, coaches and spectators. Over 9,000 girls ages 10-18 competed on 920 teams from 27 states. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that Big South generates $32 million in economic impact to the city of Atlanta…. comparing its effect on the city to other amateur sporting events like the NCAA Final Four and the Chick-Fil-A. Participants occupy nearly 15,000 hotel rooms, drive 2,000 vehicle rentals, and purchase 10,000 MARTA transit passes.
Teams will spend from $9000 to $12000 on their visits to Denver and Atlanta. Bottom line, the players and their families at these qualifiers are looking for ways to spend their time and money.
Capitol Hill Classic
Capitol Hill Classic is hosted in Washington, DC. In only its 5th year, the tournament has had steady growth averaging an astounding 30%. This event will soon become the largest event in the northeast, occupying the entire Washington Convention Center.
In 2010, the event grew to more than 400 teams for girls ages 12 to 18. Held annually over President’s Day weekend, the tournament draws 5,000 athletes, more than 700 club coaches and approximately 100 college coaches. Total attendance each day reached 12,000. The estimated economic impact for the DC local economy was over $6 million.
With myriad historical and educational sites to visit and tour outside of play hours, attendees are attracted to compete in this event and to this city as a destination site. The event is expecting another year of double-digit growth by increasing to over 600 teams in 2011.