News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam County will be the permanent host to the Pro Classic Softball and Baseball tournaments, played here over the Memorial Day Weekend.
Director of Tourism Shan Stout said she received a call from the tournament’s director Wednesday saying there had not been one complaint among players and participants. The tournament moved from Hendersonville to Cookeville less than a week before the start date.
“It was just an amazing return on our investment,” Stout said. “Because sometimes when you work so hard and they come but they don’t come back you know that would be dissappointing. But the fact that they’re not only coming back, they’re like we want this to be our permanent home, it was just an amazing return on our investment.”
Stout said Cookeville hosted more than 2,000 athletes for the 2023 tournament. She said it was a big win with participants eating in local restaurants and shopping in local businesses.
Stout said there were tens of thousands of viewers online.
“They aired each field across social media and YouTube,” Stout said. “And this was just a fantastic shot in the arm for sports tourism for Putnam County.”
Stout said hosting the tournament over the weekend has resulted in two other tournament directors reaching out to see if Cookeville can host their tournaments as well.
“And that’s all because of our partnership with TTU and President Oldham just opening this door for us,” Stout said.
Stout explained that professional tournaments require a massive amount of fields and the fields themselves must be larger to meet the specifications.
“This has just been a real game changer,” Stout said. “Pun intended.”
