Members of the Michigan Batbusters, in blue, leave after their game as the Florida Riptide, orange, gets ready to take the field Friday at the NSA softball tournament at Warner Park.As coach of the Tampa Mustangs elite travel softball team, Vern Tatum has seen some of the country’s top complexes.
After spending much of the past week at Chattanooga’s Summit attempting to win a National Softball Association “A” World Series crown, the Florida coach described the Scenic City’s top venue as “unbelievable.”
“One of the best facilities I’ve ever seen,” he continued. “And there’s so much to do here. Lookout Mountain. Museums. The aquarium. The zoo. It’s all just a great representation of Southern hospitality.”
With cities everywhere looking to lock down tourist dollars, Chattanooga appears to be making a strong bid to become Softball USA, especially for tournament play. According to Chattanooga Sports Committee numbers, softball tournaments at Summit, Camp Jordan and Warner Park will account for 24 of the 75 events on this year’s CSC calendar.
Those events are expected to attract nearly 36,000 visitors, who will spend millions of dollars. The NSA tournament alone brought more than 150 teams and at least 2,500 visitors to the city.