Clarksville, TN – Clarksville-Montgomery County is poised to welcome guests in July for four divisions of the Amateur Athletic Union’s Boys 10-and-Under and 4th Grade Division I and Division II World Basketball Championships.
Visit Clarksville scored the winning bid for the 2021 and 2023 championship events during an AAU selection process in October 2019. Bid fees are funded through the Clarksville-Montgomery Economic Development Council’s Aspire Clarksville Foundation.
Research posted this week from Destination Analysts, a travel and tourism market research firm based in California, shows that nearly 74% of people are excited to travel in the near term.
“AAU events, and the world championship in particular, bring thousands of visitors to our community,” says Matt Cunningham, incoming Visit Clarksville board of directors chairman and manager of Old Glory Distilling. “We’ve had such a long history of providing excellent customer service along with a fantastic community experience with AAU so we’re especially excited to see them back in Clarksville.”
Three local gymnasiums plus Austin Peay State University (APSU) will lend their facilities to pool play and championship games. Registration will be held Wednesday, July 7th Game play tips off on Thursday and culminates with championship bracket play on July 11th.
For each tournament played in Clarksville-Montgomery County, millions of dollars are brought into the community through several different avenues. Tournament visitors, including players, coaches, family members, and spectators spend funds on hotel accommodations, food, entertainment, and shopping.
In addition to supporting a wide range of local businesses, this travel revenue directly contributes to the city, county, and state tax base, as well as the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System.
Since 1999, the city has hosted dozens of regional and national AAU basketball events. During that time visitor spending, or economic impact, from AAU tournaments totals upwards of $30 million. An upswing in county tax revenue is historically seen during the months that the basketball tournaments are in the community.
“The support of our local hotels and restaurants, along with our many volunteers, is the key to our success with all of our sports events,” said Cunningham. “We could not continue to offer this high level of service to our guests year after year without that broad base of support.”
Clarksville-Montgomery County promotes itself to AAU site selection committees on several main points including major interstate access, proximity to the Nashville Airport, multiple well-equipped venues within a short driving distance, and committed community members and businesses. To qualify for the selection process, each city must present the elements that make their community competitive, as well as pay a bid fee.
All games are open to the public, Daily Passes are $14.00 for adults and $11.00 for ages 6-14. Weekly Passes are $45.00 for adults and $35.00 for ages 6-14. Children five and under are free. Game time each day begins at 9:30am, with the last games ending at 6:15pm.
For a complete schedule of events, brackets and other tournament information go to VisitClarksvilleTN.com/AAU.
About Visit Clarksville
Visit Clarksville’s mission is to positively influence tourism in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area by promoting tourist attractions, hosting conventions and group tours, and engaging in large-scale marketing efforts. Visit Clarksville is a member entity of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council and is funded through a portion of the hotel-motel tax.
