‘It’s really a win-win’: State HS tourneys making impacts in Fargo

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – It’s tournament time in Fargo and West Fargo and you can feel the it in the air for these high school student-athletes. This is also has far reaching impacts on the F-M community.

“Anytime you can bring people to your community, they’re driving your economy by coming here, staying in our hotels, eating restaurants, shopping in our stores and when they leave their money gets to stay here with us.” said Kali Mork, the Dir. of Sports for Visit Fargo-Moorhead.

While softball, baseball and soccer are being played, numerous people have made their way across the state for these tournaments. Some from Minot, Jamestown and even Bismarck. All of them contribute to the local economy one way or another.

“Between our communities of West Fargo and Fargo we have a lot of resources, we have a lot of great facilities, we’re happy to host these kinds of tournaments.” said Todd Olson, the Dir. of Student Activities for the Fargo Public Schools.

Sports is important to the region. From the North Dakota State University football team to the local high school sports, it creates a financial buzz.

“Between those three tournaments, we’re expecting around $200,000 to be brought in to our community from people coming and spending.” said Mork.

“Well, it’s really a win-win for our two communities because, while we’re bringing people in to the community and they’re staying overnight at our hotels and they’re eating at our restaurants we also don’t have the expenses as school districts of sending our teams to Bismarck or to Minot.” said Olson.

The tournaments are set to run through Saturday.