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Tampa to host softball tourney

The state tournament will be played at the Ed Radice Complex.

By SCOTT PURKS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 18, 2001

After sealing deals to host the high school state cross country meet and boys and girls soccer championships, Tampa landed the state softball tournament Monday.

That makes five state events, including baseball at Legends Field, for Hillsborough County next school year. But that may not be all.

The county will go after next fall's state volleyball tournamentafter the tourney's contract with Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports ran out after this season.

Hillsborough County director of athletics Vernon Korhn said a proposal to host volleyball will be filed as soon as the Florida High School Activities Association starts accepting bids, which should be in early January.

"There are so many good reasons to host these state tournaments," Korhn said. "It's obviously good for the local economy because all the folks that come here eat at our establishments, sleep in our hotels and buy things here.

"At the state cross country meet, we had 3,500 paid fans and 300 schools were represented in the meet," he said. "That's a sizeable impact. I mean, if you bring in a team and the fans that follow them, that can be a lot of people no matter what sport you're talking about. And most of those teams stay two or three days."

Korhn pointed out that hosting state activities saves money on travel for the local teams, and -- because of the large number of volunteers and help from the city, business and other organizations -- the events turn out to be moneymakers.

Ed Radice Complex, a new facility that hosted this fall's cross country meet and will be the site for girls soccer in the spring, will have the softball final May 8-10 in 2002 and May 14-16 in 2003. The 2002 tournament will preceed thebaseball tourney, scheduled for May 13-18.

The FHSAA administrative staff selected Ed Radice over softball complexes in Plant City and Auburndale, which had the event the past four years.

"The Ed Radice Sports Complex is a state-of-the-art facility," FHSAA commissioner Bob Hughes said.

Tampa has hosted the baseball tournament since 1997. During its five-year run there, the event has set three attendance records for the state-tournament week, including last season's 19,357.

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