Between softball national championships and NFL training camp, the baseball diamonds will also be buzzing into August in Hamilton County. The nation’s top youth players, representing 34 different states, will come to Grand Park at the end of July for the USSSA All-State National Championships.
Chad Scott, one of the event directors for USSSA, says the exclusive, invite-only championship is the largest individual showcase event in USSSA history. In its fourth year, the all-state event is a perfect fit for Grand Park.
“Grand Park is one of the top-tier, premier complexes, and we have a tremendous relationship with them,” Scott said. “We’ve been wanting to bring this to Grand Park, and this year it all worked out.”
To compete in the USSSA All-State National Championships, players aged 8U to 14U in each state are nominated. Various coaches make the nominations and state that their teams will enter the event. Each team is guaranteed to play five games.
In the past, it’s been played in Dallas, Kansas City, and Memphis. While there will be a few satellite fields used in central Indiana, including the Field of Dreams in nearby Noblesville, Scott liked that the majority of this event won’t be spread across an entire region. Westfield, centrally located and with enough space to accommodate everything, is the hub.
Scott mentioned the local staff, as well as USSSA State Director Kory Scaringe, as key to bringing the 6-day event to Grand Park.
“We try to handle as much as we can to run it, but the state director has been very helpful,” he said.
The USSSA All-State National Championships are estimated to generate 10,000 hotel nights and attract approximately 10,000 people, including teams from Alaska and Hawaii, to the various complexes each day.
