EVERETT — The state 3A and 4A volleyball tournaments that will be held in Everett this week will be more than just an exciting event for the players, their schools and their families.
They’ll also be an economic boon to the city, a test for the new Everett Events Center, and an indication as to whether the city can lure other amateur sports tournaments in the future.
The event is the first high-school tournament at the arena since the venue opened in September.
It’s also the first big coup for the Everett Regional Sports Commission, which was created last year by the city of Everett and the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce to lure sporting events to the arena and other facilities in the city.
The commission’s $15,000 budget comes from the Downtown Everett Association.
The tournaments will attract 480 athletes, along with their families, friends and fellow students.
"They’ll be staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants and taking advantage of whatever tourism and recreational activities we have to offer," said Mark Olson, an Everett city councilman and chairman of the sports commission.
The tournaments could pump between $50,000 to $100,000 into the city’s economy, said Daryl Bertholet, the city’s economic development coordinator, who worked closely with the commission to persuade the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association to hold the volleyball tournaments here.
Bertholet said he hopes the tournament will demonstrate how the arena and Everett can accommodate major sports events. For the volleyball tournament, the arena floor will be converted into four volleyball courts, so four games can be played at once.
Kevin Griffin, the assistant executive director for the WIAA, said the association will review how smoothly the tournaments go and will survey school officials, players and other visitors to find out what they thought of Everett as a tournament site.
Griffin called the events center "a world-class facility."
The 4A tournament had been held in Spokane for the past several years, and the 3A tournament was in Yakima last year and in Lacey for several years before that, Griffin said.
All of the teams will not be known until Saturday’s qualifying games, but there will be at least seven teams from Eastern Washington and several others from parts of Western Washington outside of the Puget Sound area — players and some of their supporters have already booked rooms in local hotels.
Jo Levin, director of the tournaments, is predicting that 7,000 to 10,000 people will watch at least one of the games.
And along with the out-of-town visitors could be some hometown favorites. Among the Snohomish County teams that could make it into the tournament are Everett and Snohomish high schools.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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