Sportsplex USA Santee Hosts Major Tournament

Massive crowd at opening ceremonies today

If you see an abundance of youngsters in baseball uniforms around town, it’s likely they are among the hundreds of competitors in the Extreme Diamond Sports World Series being played at Santee’s Sportsplex USA.

Several hundred players and their family members mobbed the sports field complex this morning for the opening ceremonies, which included a fly-over of World War II-era fighter planes.

 

More than 160 teams from 20 states are vying for championships in several divisions featuring players from ages 8 to 18.

The major hardball tournament means that restaurants, retail shops and traffic in Santee may be more packed than usual this weekend.

 “This event will have a several million-dollar economic impact on the region,” said Bill Berghoff, president of Sportsplex USA. “This tournament alone will generate several thousand hotel room nights.”

The 15-acre Sportsplex facility was built by the city in June 2010 to increase local playing field capacity, provide income to the city’s coffers and generate economic activity from regional and national sports tournaments.

 

Sportsplex Hours Extended Thursday

The city of Santee’s Community Services Dept. has agreed to extend operating hours at Sportsplex USA one hour later than normal on Thursday, July 28.

The one-time-only extension was granted to allow a San Diego girl’s softball team competing in a national tournament to attend the funeral of a teammate and her mother, who were killed July 18.

Players for the San Diego Renegade are mourning the tragic deaths of teammate Briana Williams and her mother, Donna, a veteran San Diego police officer, both of Rancho Penasquitos.

The Renegade is one of 64 teams from throughout the U.S. competing this week for the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America 18-Under Gold National Championship, which is being hosted by Sportsplex facilities in Santee and Poway.