KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Youth sports have long been a significant aspect of life in Kalamazoo, enriching both the lives of local children and the area’s economy.
In a move poised to further boost these benefits, a new youth sports facility is expected to soon begin development, after getting the approval of funding last month.
A variety of sports activities, including volleyball, play a pivotal role in helping kids develop essential life skills. Annemarie Boarman, general manager at Next Level Sports, also known as "The Dome," emphasizes the importance of sports in fostering interpersonal communication.
“I mean, you see kids that are really disengaged, they don't know how to communicate as well anymore. So I feel like sports is a place where they can get back to having kind of that presence with people in person again,” Boarman said.
Brian Persky, director of business development at Discover Kalamazoo, highlights the profound economic impact of sports tourism. “Just to give you an idea, like, all of our sports tourism business that we do in a year is about a $30 million economic impact on the community. That's about 50 to 60 events per year,” Persky explains.
The new 150,000-square-foot youth sports facility is projected to almost double that impact, reaching approximately $48 million annually.
Funding for the facility received a boost last month when a 4% tax assessment was approved by 34 hotels in Kalamazoo. This initiative is viewed positively by Erika Regner, director of sales at Delta Hotels.
“We see a lot of sports, but we see a lot of hockey, we see a lot of skating, we see a lot of wrestling, and that's about it. A lot of our families are traveling out of the area to go to teams or go to places to compete against teams that are from the area. And that's just a huge loss of revenue for the city and for us,” Regner said.
Local basketball coach and alumni coordinator Donte Hudson from The Kalamazoo Promise expresses optimism about the potential benefits for local youth. “Having a facility like this would just give us the opportunity to touch more lives, reach out to more kids, and extend our reach to other areas, and not just Kalamazoo,” Hudson said.
Hudson sees the facility as a means to create opportunities for children through sports.
“We foster relationships with them through basketball. So we want to see all of them succeed, and having a sports facility like this will just give everybody, like a hub or, you know, just that safe space to have these conversations and impact these lives,” he added.
There are currently three potential sites in consideration for the new facility, with a decision expected by early June, with the facility projected to be open by 2027.
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