MAASA
The Mid-Atlantic Amateur Sports Alliance (MAASA), with a home base on the East Coast’s Ocean City, Maryland region offers the perfect venue for your next sports event.
Why Planners Stay Here & Players Play Here
Sports Destination Management, the leading publication with the largest circulation of sports event planners and tournament directors in the sports tourism market, has announced the 2024 Champions of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism. This year’s winners are responsible for contributing a more-than-welcome boost of over $1.88 billion to the national economy over the past year. Among the winners was the USSSA Eastern Nationals, produced by the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Sports Alliance (MAASA), a partnership between Wicomico County, Worcester County, and Ocean City.The Eastern Nationals takes place annually in July. This year’s event generated 18,237 room nights and an economic impact of $15.8 million.
Originating in Wicomico County in 2007 with just 30 teams, the tournament has expanded into neighboring jurisdictions over the last decade. The event now welcomes nearly 350 teams over the course of three weeks, with daily play in eight facilities. Opening ceremonies were held at Salisbury University’s Seagull Stadium and Ocean City’s Caroline Street stage. All winners of awards have been recognized in a special feature published in the November/December 2024 issue of Sports Destination Management. The entire article with full details on the winners listed below can also be found online.
Read Now: Article on Champions of Economic Impact
About Sports Destination Management: Sports Destination Management is written for the largest audience of sports event managers and tournament directors in the sports tourism market and maintains a focus on the important issues surrounding event location decisions and event management. With content from experts and thought leaders, SDM provides in-depth coverage of sports event planning and execution through incisive and relevant articles as well as insightful, real-world case studies showcasing best practices and successful event production.
“The venues and staff at all MAASA locations have always met and exceeded our expectations and have allowed us to host many successful volleyball tournaments in the past. Our largest event, Beachfest Volleyball Festival, which began in one location, on Maryland’s eastern shore, has now grown to many locations with last year there being four. This event spans from Wicomico County to Worcester County and is filled with up to 300 teams over two weekends. None of this success would have been possible without the help and support of MAASA. We thank MAASA for all they have done for us and continue to do for us as we run our events with them in the many years to come.”
“Let me start by saying that I’ve worked for and with recreation departments across the state and region for 35 years, been involved with three different softball associations for over 30 years and worked in the corporate world for 24 and I can honestly say that I’ve never been associated with such a professional and responsible group. Each of you, no matter how large or small of a role you played in the event, embraced the responsibility you were given, performed your job with the utmost integrity and genuinely seemed to have fun doing it, the latter of which is certainly most important.”
“This turf (the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex) looks beautiful, the surrounding area is gorgeous, you’re close to the beach – it has everything that we look for in a destination and we can’t be more than thrilled to bring our event here.”
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