State Class B baseball tournament won’t be here

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The State Class B High School Baseball Tournament will not be in Jamestown June 3, 4 and 5 as was planned. The tournament was moved to Minot because local hotels already have too many rooms set aside for other events in the area, officials said.

“Fargo and Minot were gracious enough to put together offers and invoices for the tournament and today (Tuesday) the board voted to place the tournament in Minot,” said Dave Carlsrud, assistant to the executive secretary for the North Dakota High School Activities Association.

State tournaments are set for North Dakota cities four or five years in advance, he said.

This is the first time in Carlsrud’s 21 years with the North Dakota High School Activities Association that a tournament was moved because of a lack of lodging.

“I don’t ever recall us moving because all of a sudden there weren’t enough rooms,” he said.

The estimated economic impact of losing the tournament this year is $60,000, according to Nina Sneider, executive director of Buffalo City Tourism Foundation.

Jamestown has hosted the Class B Baseball tournament for decades, and in the past few years has switched off with Mandan on hosting the Class A tournament.

The State Class A High School Baseball Tournament is scheduled to be in Jamestown next year, pending space.

This year the State Girls Soccer Tournament will be in Jamestown the same dates as well as the El Zagal Shriners and a square dancers’ convention at the Civic Center.

“Due to events that were already booked with hotels we were unable to come up with enough rooms to have both of those tournaments,” said Jim Roaldson, activities director at Jamestown High School.

Summer is a very busy time for events in Jamestown and is also the middle of wedding season, said Pam Fosse, Civic Center director.

When conventions want to come to Jamestown, they give advance notice, sometimes years ahead of time, Fosse said. Some conventions are already being booked for 2014, she said.

Fosse will then work with hotels to secure rooms for those conventions.

In a letter to Sherm Sylling, executive secretary of the North Dakota High School Activities Association, Roaldson said he met with lodging personnel and Fosse in October 2009 to try to secure rooms for June 2010.

“Nothing derogatory, but there was just no place to stay for folks,” Carlsrud said.

Fosse said she is already working on securing rooms in Jamestown for next year’s baseball tournament.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by e-mail at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

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