Youth Sports Focus: Signature Events, Facilities Create Opportunities, Impact Throughout State — Sport Oregon Voices

Photo: Travel Medford

A look back at a busy summer of youth sports across the state of Oregon

While this past summer featured a series of unprecedented, high-profile sporting events taking place in our state, lesser-known success stories are evident when taking a look at some of the many youth sports activities that have grown in stature and significance in Oregon.

There is a vibrant youth sports scene in Oregon, as witnessed this past summer through a wide variety of events held here. They stretch far and wide across the state, with the impact stretching from Southern Oregon to the Portland metro area, as is the case of the examples below. 

Anchored by the city-owned Lithia & Driveway Fields, Medford is a regional hotbed for youth sports in the state, attracting many tournaments and events each year. The complex is one of the biggest of its kind in the country, boasting seven softball/baseball fields, three full-size baseball fields, and five fields for football and soccer. The 132-acre complex features one of the largest installations of FieldTurf in the United States and has already hosted upwards of 50,000 youth and adult games, generating more than $120 million in economic impact since opening in 2008, according to official reports.

Angela Wood, who serves as the director of sales and sports development for Travel Medford, says that most weekends – particularly in the summer – are bustling with activity at Lithia & Driveway Fields. Annually, can’t-miss soccer and baseball tournaments take center stage on Memorial Day weekend, with the facility serving as a catalyst for the ever-increasing interest and impact of sports in the area.

Beyond the complex, Medford and the Southern Oregon are a popular destination for additional youth activities, including BMX events and a recently held whitewater camp for kayaking and rafting.

“The impact of sports is huge in Southern Oregon, especially since the Lithia & Driveway Fields opened,” said Wood. “Southern Oregon has just become a sports destination. We have a great climate, we have some really great venues, and the location is ideal.”

On the venue front, Medford soon will welcome a new indoor facility to better accommodate additional sports. Generally thought to be the largest building Medford has ever built, construction on the new Rogue X facility is underway, with an estimated opening of late fall 2023. Wood says the new indoor venue will include eight basketball courts, one competitive swimming pool and one recreational swimming pool.

In Portland, the Ladies Ball basketball tournament and the annual Valley Invite for softball were among the highlights of an eventful summer of youth sports events this summer.

The Ladies Ball – an annual girls’ basketball tournament that features many of the top elite teams in the country – hosted its Western Regional in the Portland area for the first time in August. Produced in partnership with the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the event was held at the Beaverton Hoop YMCA and featured teams across grades 4-12. This year’s Ladies Ball regional attracted upwards of 50 teams from Oregon and the surrounding Western states, and by all accounts was a tremendous success in its first time held in the area.

Rich McGuinness, the chairman of the Ladies Ball, says that the Western Regional held in Portland attracted girls’ teams from more states than any other of its regional events. He said his organization was very impressed at how the city serves as a connector to teams from the Western states and Canada, and how the area embraces the culture of sports and women’s basketball, in particular, “like family.”

“It was the perfect place to host our Ladies Ball Western Regional in partnership with the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame,” said McGuinness. “Our staff and our event partner, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, believe it was the best event we ever ran."   

The Portland metro area also is home to the largest youth softball tournament held in the Pacific Northwest each summer. For more than two decades the Valley Invite has packed area softball fields, serving a leading showcase event that attracts coaches representing dozens of colleges and universities.

Held every June, the Valley Invite takes place at fields in Hillsboro, Beaverton and Clackamas, and is produced by Triple Crown Sports. According to Rachel Cavallaro, Triple Crown Sports’ fastpitch event director for the Valley Invite, this year’s event attracted 195 teams from states stretching from Colorado to Hawaii, and California to Alaska.

“Teams put it on their schedule every year and look forward to it, and we look forward to it as well,” said Cavallaro. 

With the event becoming a staple for competitive teams and softball enthusiasts, it also serves as a significant economic driver for the area. Cavallaro estimates that each team brings roughly 25-30 people each year, for an estimated total of 4,800-5,800 when factoring the team count of 195 from this past year. Like the Ladies Ball, the Valley Invite works with partner hotels to arrange accommodations for the teams, providing a nice boost to not only area hotels, but restaurants and related service and retail entities.

Medford recently adopted an appropriate slogan – Medford is Your Sportground, Where the West Coast Plays. While that is certainly proving to be the case in Southern Oregon, it’s nice to see that the mantra translates to the entire state through its many youth sports activities.