AAU Junior Olympics bring huge impact to Greensboro
The recently completed 2022 AAU Junior Olympics (July 30-Aug. 6) brought more 19,000 athletes, -along with thousands of coaches and friends and family members - to Greensboro, resulting in an enormous economic impact for Greensboro.
“We have estimated an economic impact of more than $38 million from this spectacular eight-day event,” said Greensboro Convention & Visitors Bureau president Henri Fourrier. “The Games generated over 30,000 hotel room nights and provided us the opportunity to host competitors from all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico.”
The 2022 AAU Junior Olympics consisted of 16 events held at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro Aquatic Center, North Carolina A&T State University and Wake Forest University. Attendance for events at the Coliseum Complex totaled 15,409. The event, which was held in Greensboro for the first time in 2019, will also return to the Triad in 2024, 2029 and 2033.
The hosting of the AAU Junior Olympic events has continued the trend of highly popular youth sporting events bringing thousands of visitors to the Triad. Over just the last four months, youth sporting events at the Coliseum Complex have included three North Carolina AAU Basketball events (total attendance – 7,023), two USSSA Basketball events (total attendance – 11,434), two ‘Big Shots’ youth basketball events (total attendance – 6,360), the World Tang Soo Do World Championships (attendance 8,119) and the YMCA Long Course National Swimming Championships (600 swimmers competed; estimated economic impact of over $2M).
“Youth sporting events – and the many benefits Greensboro receives from all of the out-of-town visitors – have become a staple of the sports calendar here in ‘Tournament Town’,” said Richard Beard, president and CEO of the Greensboro Sports Foundation. “These events fill hotel rooms, pack local restaurants and bring millions of dollars into our community.”
Looking ahead, additional youth sporting events coming to the Coliseum Complex include the Super 32 Wrestling Challenge (Oct. 15-16), UCA Carolina Cheerleading Championship (Nov. 19), Cheersport Cheerleading Competition, Speedo Winter Junior National Championships (Dec. 6-11) and the Holy Angels Wrestling Invitational (Dec. 29-30).
“We have seen a huge increase in youth sporting event bookings in recent years, culminating with an incredibly successful hosting of the AAU Junior Olympics,” said Greensboro Coliseum Complex managing director Matt Brown. “We look forward to continuing to build on our outstanding relationship with national organizations such as AAU, YCMA and USSSA to bring even more of these economic-impact-generating multi-day events to the City of Greensboro and the Coliseum Complex.”