Youth sporting events bring immeasurable benefit to Great Falls

More than 1,500 people come to Great Falls each year for the Electric City Heat Softball Classic, held two weekends ago.

Most of the 40 out-of-town youth softball teams spent two nights.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs can't hold back a smile when they think about that weekend in June. How could they? Youth sports might be right up there with the state fair when it comes to a boost for the local economy.

And it's not just hotels and burger joints that reap the benefits. Noon's gas station, just down the hill from the Great Falls Multi-Sports Complex where the tournament is played, told the Heat that it's their biggest weekend of the year. The Super 8 motel said the same, according to Heat vice-president Marlee Sunchild.

And, of course, there are sporting goods.

"We actually do see a nice little boost in business over those three days," said Universal Athletic retail manager Carrie Lindstrand. "… A lot of those people have been coming to that tournament for years, so they know where we are."

Scheels, another sporting goods store and the tournament sponsor, said they would prefer not to be quoted in this story.

So why is this important to the Great Falls resident who, say, doesn't have a child playing travel softball or doesn't work at the Town House Inn?

Economists call it the local multiplier effect, a theory in economics that posits a dollar spent locally recirculates in the local economy an average of seven times before being spent on an import.

With all those folks coming from out of town — Missoula, Billings, across the border from Canada — that's a lot of dollars spent locally that wouldn't otherwise find their ways to Great Falls.

And then there's the preparation.

"There's just so much that goes into it that you don't really think about," Sunchild said.

The Heat bought concession supplies from locally owned Ryan's Cash & Carry. They had truckloads of gravel delivered to the complex and purchased new lawnmowers. They rented generators and tents from Strobel's.

"It really is a huge undertaking locally," Sunchild said. "A lot of people benefit from it in the economy with the mall being right there by the fields."

Sunchild said the Heat don't yet know how much their organization made off the tournament. She couldn't ballpark a guess, aside from saying it's their best fundraiser. The tournament, now more than two decades old, had so much success that it has sparked similar events. The Great Falls Selects, the West side's club softball organization, hosts a jamboree each spring. Other youth organizations — swimming, volleyball, wrestling — have followed suit.

Lindstrand is a former board member and parent for the Heat youth softball program, so she knows how the travel softball circuit works.

"You're looking at 60 teams that come in here, and they all have to have a place to stay. They all eat," Lindstrand said.

Universal Athletic, a sporting goods purveyor, gets some guaranteed business from the tournament as well.

"We have a really good relationship with that organization," said Lindstrand. "We do their tournament t-shirts each year, and we do a part of the awards, too."

Tournament organizers include advertisements and coupons from businesses around the city in the coaches' packets. Universal Athletic chips in a coupon offer, Lindstrand said.

And with all those kids coming to the Electric City to play softball, they're bound to need some sporting goods.

"People forget things," Lindstrand said with a laugh. "So if somebody needs a glove, somebody needs a knee pad, (they go to UA). And then they're just shopping. They're stuck at the fields all day."

Mark D. Robertson is the sports and recreation reporter for the Tribune. He can be reached by phone at 406.791.1470 or email at mrobertson@greatfallstribune.com.