Crowds expected for track, soccer

2,400 athletes plus followers in town for two main events

Business owners, start your engines.

Kalispell will host two massive sports tournaments this weekend, bringing upwards of 7,500 visitors to the valley - and leaving cash in the pockets of local hoteliers, restaurateurs, sports retailers, gas station owners and more.

Flathead and Glacier high schools will host the state track meets for Class AA and B schools (Class A and C schools will compete in Butte) on Friday and Saturday.

Then Flathead Soccer Club will host the 16th annual Three Blind Refs Tournament for U-10 through U-16 teams on Saturday and Sunday.

Anybody who hasn't booked a motel room yet might have a tough time finding one now.

"Close to 900 athletes will be competing, just shy of 60 schools from as far as Baker and as close as Kalispell," Glacier High School Activities Director Mark Dennehy said of the state track competition.

Legends Stadium near Flathead High School will be packed with 5,000 to 6,000 people, he estimated.

"All the bleacher seats will be full, and the portable bleachers will be full," he said, "and they will be standing."

At the other end of town, the Kidsports complex and two fields at Glacier High will see 214 games among 113 teams called by 128 referees in two days - using 15 fields on Saturday and 16 fields on Sunday.

Rob Riley, Three Blind Refs tournament director, crunched the numbers as he helped prepare fields on Wednesday: The record-setting 113 teams - last year there were 103 - will average about 14 members a team.

That adds up to more than 1,500 athletes from as far away as Idaho Falls and Calgary, Alberta.

"A pretty conservative estimate is to take the number of players and add one-and-a-half parents for each one," Riley said, a calculation that brings the soccer crowd to well over 3,750 people.

"But one Calgary team said every player is bringing two parents," he added.

Subtract out the local athletes and their fans - on the soccer side alone there will be 15 teams from the Flathead Soccer Club and six from the Whitefish-Columbia Falls Glacier United - and the two events could account for 7,500 out-of-towners among a potential crowd of some 8,700.

"It's a great thing, especially in the shoulder season," Flathead Convention and Visitor Bureau Executive Director Dori Muehlhof said. In the spring and fall, "it's affordable, it's not crowded, and they hopefully will get a sample of what we have to offer and come back to visit later."

The closest estimate on what those visitors may spend while in the Flathead probably comes from the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana, the research arm for Montana's tourism and recreation industry.

Statisticians there figure each "travel group" will spend an average of $158.69 a day. It's scientifically derived from rigorous survey protocols, but the "group" can vary from someone making a solo visit to friends and relatives to families vacationing in or passing through the state to large business conventions.

"Sports visitors are definitely a different profile," Muehlhof said. "It's more family oriented. As a general rule, the repeat visitor is key to our success. They get a taste and come back. And some might be planning, with this trip, to extend their stay."

Any way you figure it, this weekend should keep cash registers ringing in the Flathead.

Bill Linne of the Holiday Inn Express Kalispell, the hotel closest to the soccer tournament, said that cancellations had just opened a couple of Friday night rooms by Tuesday, but he still could offer around 25 rooms for Saturday night.

"We've been fluctuating," Linne said, noting that the hotel had been booked full for weeks.

"I think the Three Blind Refs Tournament pumps a lot of rooms into the valley in general, and we're starting to get into the summer season," he added. "But this weekend, it's mostly athletes."

Janey Zimmer, director of sales for Red Lion Hotel Kalispell - closer to Legends Field for the state track meet - said this weekend has been booked for months.

"We are booked full, and with schools still calling hoping to get rooms," Zimmer said. "Rumor has it no one has rooms Friday night. Anyone trying to make last-minute reservations is having a little difficulty."

Other than a scramble for lodging, what should visitors expect for the three days of leisurely sports watching?

Parking - at either Legends Stadium or the Kidsports complex - will be an adventure. Only buses will be allowed into the parking lot at Legends. Individual drivers will have to fend for themselves in finding a neighborhood curb.

Kidsports has a reasonably sized parking lots but, Riley said, "it's insufficient, we need twice that."

And, with a forecast for sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s, bring your sunscreen and straw hats.

But if you forget, plenty of local retailers will be happy to help.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com