Sports are a Big Deal in Washington County

April 6th, 2010 by WCVA

Did you know that sporting events bring in millions of dollars to Washington County annually? Through the concerted efforts of the county’s parks and recreation departments, the Oregon Sports Authority and the Oregon School Activities Association, Washington County has become the pre-eminent location for sporting events in the state.

Now the value of Washington County has increased, with the recent $1 million makeover of Hillsboro Stadium. Grounds crews replaced the stadium’s existing field turf with 170,000 square feet of a more resilient and natural-looking turf.

“In the past, we’ve actually lost teams and business opportunities due to refusal to play on the old Astroturf at the Stadium,” said Laura Garratt, sports sales manager for the WCVA. “Now that Hillsboro Stadium is blanketed in state-of-the-art FieldTurf, it’s right up there with the same playing surfaces as the 53^rd Avenue Sports Fields, PCC Rock Creek Recreation Complex and PGE Park.”

The 7,000-seat stadium hosts a variety of sports–including football, soccer, softball, baseball and lacrosse–and will serve as the home field for the Portland State University Vikings while PGE Park undergoes a major renovation into a major-league soccer facility.

For the WCVA, this renovation means an increase in business for Washington County’s sports market.

“The stadium’s enhanced marketability around the state and the Pacific Northwest now gives Washington County even more of a competitive edge than before when bidding on various regional and national soccer, lacrosse, or football tournaments,” Garratt added.

Garratt, along with representatives from City of Hillsboro Parks & Recreation and Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, bid –and won- the 2012 Amateur Softball Association 14A Girls Fast Pitch Western National Softball Championships, where at least 56 teams and about 7,000 players will descend on the Hillsboro Stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies. The games will be played throughout the area, including the stadium, the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex and the Howard M. Terpenning Complex in Beaverton.

This tournament was last held in Washington County in 2006, where it broke records (for the age group) with 86 teams participating, and brought in approximately $500,000 in economic impact to the region.

Tags: Hillsboro Oregon stadium, national softball championships oregon, oregon sports facilities, sporting events Washington County oregon

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