Homeschool basketball tourney brings $3.65M in local spending

An estimated 8,000 players, coaches and families have converged on the Ozarks this week for the 23rd annual National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championship. Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau officials estimate attendees spend about $100 per person per day.

In total, the CVB expects the March 9-16 tournament to generate $3.65 million in visitor spending and an estimated 7,500 hotel room stays, according to a news release.

“We did not completely sell out our hotel, but they are a large percentage of our guests,” said Missy Handyside, general manager at the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Oasis Convention Center, in the release. “We wish we had this group 52 weeks a year.”

Handyside said the impact of NCHBC is “huge,” with teams filling 70 percent of available rooms at the hotel this week.

The more than 300 teams from nearly 30 states will occupy 20 gymnasiums throughout the Springfield area, with the championship event set for March 14 at Missouri State University's Hammons Student Center, according to the release.

This marks the sixth year for the tournament in Springfield and the CVB reports the action is scheduled to take place in the Queen City through at least 2017.

The tournament is one of two dozen events the CVB has booked in Springfield through April, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The men’s and women’s NCAA Division II Midwest Regionals started today at the O’Reilly Family Event Center at Drury University and include 16 teams expected to add another 800 people to the visitor count. The Missouri Winter Games run through March 30 and drew about 5,000 people last year.