Thousands of college students are starting to descend on Central Florida for Spring Break. But they aren't all headed to the beach. Clermont's Spring Games expects to welcome 13,000 students and their families this year for a growing softball tournament.
This week saw the first pitch of the 2015 Spring Games at Legends Way Fields. During the next month a record 300 teams will take part in 1500 games.
Now in its eighth year, the games have grown to what organizers call the biggest softball event in the world, fielding teams from as far as South Dakota.
“I believe it’s our location, the proximity to the theme parks and the housing that we can provide, not only hotels here, but a lot of them stay in resort areas," PFX Athletics Scheduling Manager Bob Borak said.
“The weather is much better here than it is in Rock Island, Illinois. It’s about 4 degrees there and we have 15 inches of snow,” Augustana College Senior Center Fielder Chelsea Lavin said.
Lavin has made the trip to Clermont each year, visiting theme parks and local restaurants.
“The economic impact we bring to Lake County with the teams, we’ve been over $10 million here the last few years. I assume we are going to be around $12 million for these five weeks,” Borak said.
"Clermont itself is such a nice town and its close to Orlando and there is so much more for people to do other than play softball,” Lavin said.
Each team is scheduled for 10 games at four sites around town.
Not only are the Spring Games growing, but the competition is getting stronger. This years event will feature seven of the nation’s top 25 teams in Division II and III.
A complete schedule of the games can be found at www.pfxathletics.com. Tickets at the gate are $25 for the season and $13 for the day with discounts for seniors and children.