Good news for the new hotels and businesses sprouting in Wesley Chapel — the DICK’S Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions is returning for the 2016 and 2017 tournaments.
The National Development Program (NDP) Lacrosse announced Wednesday, June 1, that the pre-collegiate club lacrosse national championship will return to its long-time home of Pasco County’s Wesley Chapel District Park and Wesley Chapel High for the 9th and 10th straight years.
“Pasco County’s Board of County Commissioners, its Tourist Development Council and the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association have provided tremendous support to the event for nearly a decade,” said NDP Vice President of Business Operations Josh Gross in a press release. “I’m excited that the event will return to Pasco County.”
The tournament, which started in 2006, has been held in Wesley Chapel since 2008. Last year’s event featured 73 teams from 16 different states.
Teams earn bids at regional qualifying tournaments to compete for the DICK’s national championship across five divisions. One of those qualifiers, the Derek Pieper Memorial Cup, is held in Wesley Chapel and the new deal keeps that tournament viable.
The DICK’S Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions is held every December 29-31, with an estimated economic impact of $3 million in Pasco County.
“This has been our anchor sporting event for many years,” said Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey of the Pasco Board of County Commissioners and the Tourist Development Council. “We are glad to have them back again for the next two years.”
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