Event Preview: Scenic City Summer Club Tournament Features 300+ Teams… & Probably That Many College Coaches Too!

It’s Summertime and the softball travel world is on the road attending top events nationwide.

One of the most oldest and most reputable club events over the summer is the Scenic City Summer tournant that will take place this Thursday through Sunday (June 24-27, 2021) in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Extra Inning Softball will have coverage of the event throughout the weekend and to preview the big tournament, we caught up this week with Jen Carden, the Director of Communications for Connect Sports, which produces the tournament, to find out more on Scenic City and how it’s evolved into a highly coveted place to be for elite teams…

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Tell us about Scenic City and how it has grown in size over time…
This is the 14th year for Connect Sports’ Scenic City Summer and Fall events. Fourteen years ago, the Summer event had 55 teams and the Fall event had 40 teams and last Fall (2020) we had 420 teams this week’s summer event will have over 340 teams!

That’s an impressive number of teams competing! That must draw in a large number of college coaches to evaluate the talent, too.
Yes, in the summer of 2019 Scenic City Summer attracted over 275 college coaches and, last Fall, Scenic City Fall had over 320 college coaches.

Why do you think Scenic City has become one of the key stops on the summer tour for so many teams?
We have so many major metro areas and colleges within a seven hour drive which helps us attract close to or more than 300 college coaches to our event.

I’ll also let Jeremy Higdon, who is the Director of Connect Sports Events and also oversees the Fury Fastpitch & Fury Platinum travel organizations share his thoughts:

“The success of Scenic City is driven by club directors and coaches continuing to support our events. In some cases, we have coaches that have literally been to Scenic City every year. I couldn’t be more grateful for the continued support of our events. It was never more evident than last year, when Scenic City summer did not happen on our regular, early June date. We felt this community embrace us, support us, and participate in the largest Scenic City ever in November 2020.”

“I also can’t say enough about our wonderful city and the surrounding municipalities. Not only is our city a great attraction as a destination, Chattanooga and surrounding municipalities in North Georgia really invest in their softball complexes. The local businesses rally to support the events by providing food for our college coaches and umpires, our sports tourism division is here for any support we need. Can’t say enough about this city and its surrounding areas.”

Who are some of the top teams to watch this year?

Here’s a list of just some of the many we look forward to seeing this week:

• AP Gold 18U Locke
• Caroline Elite Genovese
• TN Mojo 04 – Carter
• Fury Platinum Silver 18U
• Indiana Fusion Elite Premier – Unruh
• EC Bullets – Hecklinski
• GA Impact 05 – Lewis
• GA Impact 2021/22 – Ryman
• GA Impact Townsend/Jeffreys
• TN Mojo 2022/23 Henson
• Ohio Haws Lenos
• GA Power – Tunon
• AP Gold – Barfield/Bird
• GA Impact Janney
• Fury Platinum – Polk
• LLG Maguire/Corn
• Louisville Lady Sluggers – Murphy
• Premier Fastpitch Paulson
• Fury Premier – Moyer/Perry

With so many teams, how do you manage the format and facilities to maximize exposure for the players and teams?
We have over 40 fields this summer within 25 minutes driving radius of one another. It makes it easy for coaches see a lot of teams and players over four days.

How about college attendance? Are there some major universities across the country who regularly show up?
Yes, we have many who attend, here’s some of the Power 5 ones, for example, we’ve regularly seen at Scenic City:

• Washington
• Oregon
• Arizona State
• Florida
• Alabama
• Auburn
• Florida State
• Tennessee
• LSU
• Georgia
• Kentucky
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Arkansas
• Missouri
• Ole Miss

What are some fun things to do in the area when players and their families are enjoying down time?
Our top attractions are Rock City, Ruby Falls, the Chattanooga Aquarium and the Chattanooga Zoo; VisitChattanooga.com has the largest list of eateries, attractions, and activities going on in Chattanooga.

What is the format for this week’s event?
There is a six-game guarantee with Sunday being Championship play for pool winners. Also, the 2021 Scenic City Summer event is an Alliance=approved event in which Alliance League teams will earn points for their games

—  Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball