The USA Gymnastics State Championship for Missouri is expected to provide one of the largest boosts to Jefferson City's economy of any sporting event hosted at The LINC.
Approximately 800 gymnasts from across the state will compete Friday through Sunday at The LINC for the Missouri March Madness State Championship.
There are three state gymnastics meets in Missouri that bring together gymnasts ages 10-18 for various competitions. The LINC will host the highest level meet for the first time this weekend.
The upcoming meet is expected to kick $750,000 into Jefferson City's economy, said Craig Hall, sports sales manager with the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"That's a large amount for a three-day tournament," Hall said. "That's a big impact."
"It probably ranks up to the second biggest that we have right now as far as economic impact for a weekend tournament," he said.
For comparison, Hall said the longer five-day state track meet, which is the biggest weekend sports event hosted in the city, brings $2.5 million to the Jefferson City economy.
With athletes, family and spectators, Hall said he's expecting an influx of nearly 3,000 people to visit Jefferson City over the weekend.
In addition to the economic impact the large-scale sports competition will bring to the city, the gymnastics tournament engages youth in events they might not regularly get the chance to see, said Aaron Grefrath, assistant director of programs for the city parks and recreation department.
"I've never wanted to be known for just basketball only, so I try to look for other events that we can bring to the community that engage kids that may not play basketball," Grefrath said. "We host basketball events, we host volleyball events, we host martial arts tournaments, and this will be our first gymnastics event.
"It's kind of exciting to know that some of these girls or boys could be future Olympians, but you just never know," he continued.
Kim Fuchs, owner and head coach of Eagles Gymnastics in Kansas City, has been organizing one of the three state gymnastics meets with a partner coach from Columbia for 25 years, including the upcoming meet at The LINC.
After hosting a smaller meet at a Jefferson City school last year, Fuchs said she enjoyed the Capital City's central location in the state but wanted a bigger facility. She soon found the "perfect opportunity" in The LINC.
"It's just such a great venue, so we're really, really excited about hosting it there," Fuchs said. "Everybody has just been really, really great falling over themselves to make sure we have a good time, so we're happy about it."
Fuchs said the city has been especially welcoming and supportive as it has offered a small stipend for food and provided lodging recommendations.
Fuchs, who has been part of the USA Gymnastics national staff for the past decade and was the former USA Gymnastics state chairman for Missouri, said there are around 2,000 gymnasts throughout Missouri regularly competing in the three state meets.
She said athletes and their families often explore the areas they visit while traveling for meets by shopping and dining in restaurants.
She said it's also common for families with two children competing on separate days to make a weekend trip out of the competition and tour the city they're staying in.
Jefferson City hosting the championships is also a bonus for local gymnasts and families, Grefrath said, because they don't have to travel across the state to St. Louis or Kansas City to compete.
Grefrath said he's always on the lookout for different sporting events the city can host. After an equipment supplier did a site survey at The LINC, Grefrath said he thinks the city could attract some small-scale collegiate level gymnastics competitions usually hosted in St. Louis.
Hall said he'll be using the experience hosting the state gymnastics championship to expand more into the sports arena.
"Hopefully once you prove you can host an event like that and keep the business, then maybe you can host a little bigger one next time," he said. "Maybe a regional for the United States or something like that if it's possible. That's something to think about."
Hall said he plans to talk about the hosting experience at various trade shows to attract similar-sized events to the Capital City.
Community support for the event also sends a good message, Hall said. He's going to meet with Fuchs and other organizers after this weekend's first run at The LINC to see how Jefferson City can support the event next year.
"One thing unique about this town is it's always well-backed by all of the businesses," he said. "And it's got to be to make an event like that happen."
If everything goes according to plan, Fuchs said, she'd be interested in hosting a state meet at The LINC into the future.
"It's always just a matter of making sure (The LINC) is available on the weekend we need, and it sounds to me like they're going to be very accommodating for us," Fuchs said. "It may be a match made in heaven here."