The pling of spring is coming
While the rest of the country still has to choose between which boots to wear out into the snow, here in Florida, February means the beginning of baseball season. And while the pros take to the field at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, the other Boys of Summer – those from colleges around the country – will take to fields all over Polk County.
Call it the pling of spring.
With 240 teams competing, the RussMatt Invitational Tournament runs from late February until the end of March. During that time, teams representing various divisions of collegiate sports, including NAIA, JUCO, and Divisions I through III, will match skills on the diamond. And while Auburndale’s Lake Myrtle Sports Park and Winter Haven’s Chain of Lakes Park host the majority of the games, other facilities – such as Warner University in Lake Wales, Henley Field in Lakeland and Polk State College in Winter Haven – will have a few games as well.
The RussMatt Baseball Invitational is the largest collegiate baseball tournament in the nation.
“As the business community in the area knows, RussMatt means full tables at local restaurants and full rooms for local hoteliers,” said Mark Jackson, Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing director. “That’s roughly a $28 million shot-in-the-arm for the area.”
To understand just how vast the impact of the event is, over the duration of a single RussMatt tournament Polk County hotels will enjoy approximately 30,000 room nights during the 39 day event. And while the Tigers stimulate the economy in Lakeland, RussMatt targets a different part of the county.
“Baseball is the No. 1 sport we host here (in Auburndale) as far as number of events and impact to our community,” said Marc Zimmerman, Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing sales and events manager. “One reason we expanded here is because of the demand – we had six fields already at Chain O’ Lakes, we knew that as this tournament grew, we would need new fields to address that growing demand.”
But not all the visitors will be teammates.
“A lot of parents and grandparents come down as well,” said Zimmerman. “Why wouldn’t they? It is a great chance to get out of the cold, see your family and enjoy the area.”