By Rachel Knight
As the summer gets hotter in Texas, so do the sporting competitions making their way to Bryan College Station as the community prepares to host the 2019 Games of Texas.
More than 30,000 visitors will make their way to Bryan College Station from July 25 through 29 for the climax of state wide summer sporting competitions during this year’s Games of Texas. Competitors are 5 years old or older with youth sports being the most popular.
Kelly Kelbly, assistant director of parks and recreation for the city of College Station, compares the Games of Texas to the Junior Olympics. “It is a statewide competition; kind of the best-of-the-best in youth sports,” she says. “They had to come out of their home city, then through a regional competition to even qualify to be here.”
This summer is the seventh time B/CS hosts the Games of Texas. Based on the fiscal impact of the last few times the Games of Texas were in B/CS, the economic impact of hosting these events in 2019 is expected to be between $7.5 and $8 million, according to Kelbly.
In addition to having a positive impact on the economy, Kelbly says hosting the games provides an opportunity to showcase the facilities available in both cities and at Texas A&M University. More importantly, she says the spirit of the community is what keeps people coming back to this area.
“One thing that we continually get comments and compliments on as we continue to secure bids for a lot of these larger events is our hospitality,” Kelbly shares. “I would challenge any other entity to do it as well as we do.”
The Games of Texas are a Texas Amateur Athletic Federation event. In order for the Games of Texas to be hosted in B/CS, the city of Bryan, the city of College Station, Texas A&M, and Experience B/CS work together to make a bid. The bid is a proposal put together by a city, or in this case cities, to host the event. Bids are made to host the event for two years, and must be submitted about three years before the games are actually hosted. For example, a bid was placed in September of 2014 to host the Games of Texas in Bryan College Station in 2018 and 2019. Once confirmation was received that the Games of Texas were coming to B/CS, a three-year planning process began.
Kelbly suggests coming to the Games of Texas this year while they are so close to home, because they go to Corpus Christi for 2020 and 2021 and to Brownsville for 2022 and 2023. The next possible time the Games of Texas could be in B/CS is 2024.
Those who wish to be more involved than the average spectator have the opportunity to volunteer at the games by visiting taaf.com/gamesoftexas. “That can be anywhere from scoring at pickleball, helping with hospitality at boxing, to raking pits at track, timing at swimming,” Kelbly says.
The number one reason to go to the Games of Texas is the level of competition, Kelbly shares. “It is fierce. It is entertaining. You have kids who have worked really, really hard to be here. ... We have kids who are swimming and running and practicing everyday to be here.”
Getting to compete in the Games of Texas is worth celebrating, no matter how an athlete finishes in their sport. The Opening Ceremonies, which take place on July 26 at the Wolf Pen Creek Festival site from 6 to 8pm, includes a parade of athletes, ceremony, and live entertainment, to celebrate the athletes’ achievement of competing in the games.
“It’s amazing,” Kelbly says. “When you see the kids come crashing across the finish line and you’ve got this 5-year-old just bawling, the impact is truly amazing.”
