By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex was host to one of its biggest tournaments of the year this past weekend with some improvements to its fields.
The sports complex hosted 53 teams for an NBC points tournament for youth baseball teams from 8 and younger to 14 and younger. This year’s participation is up from 33 teams last year. Each team has 10 to 11 players.
The city of Hays has been working to replace dirt in the infields that had been lost to wind erosion. Work was done on the south fields this year, and the city and the complex director hope to complete work on the rest of the fields next year, said A.J. Preisner, complex director.
The erosion on the fields is a hazard. It creates a lip between the dirt infield and the grass outfield. This can cause balls to pop up as they roll from the infield to the outfield and strike a player who is trying to field the ball. It has been especially a problem for the rec teams and younger players who play closer to the infield.
The lips can also be a tripping hazard.
“We here in the western part of the state get wind blowing the majority of the time. It is hard to control. We have brought in as much in-fill mix as we can. This is our seventh season, so for not doing it for six years, it definitely needed to be built up,” Preisner said.
The city brought in 750 tons of a mix of sand and red shale. The repairs cost the city about $39,000.
Tournaments like the one last weekend can be a significant economic boon to the local economy. Preisner shared an example of spending from a survey completed by one of the teams that came from Wichita.
The team reported they booked 20 hotel rooms and spent about $120 per family. They also ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in Hays during the two days and spent an average of $25 per family on retail items. Thirty-eight of the teams that were in this weekend’s tournament were out-of-town teams, traveling from as far as Manhattan to play.
Tammy Wellbrock, executive director of the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce, said these types of sporting events are a good opportunity for local businesses to showcase their goods and services.
“The chamber recognizes that it is common when people spend their entire day or weekend in Hays they are going to spend money at hotels and restaurants and make incidental purchases, and that must have a major impact on the economy and the city sales tax, plus repeat customers.
“We don’t have a mechanism to show how many of these families are here for the first time and then return to Hays for other leisure purpose. I myself came here as a senior to watch state basketball. I loved it so much I chose to come here for college. We don’t know how one visit for one reason may influence a decision for another down the line.
“Many chamber members and businesses truly appreciate the opportunity to showcase their goods and services to a new audience,” Wellbrock added, “and we will continue to work together to get these types of events hosted here.”