By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference is one of the primary NAIA conferences in Kansas, but the league is represented by schools in Kansas City and even Oklahoma and Nebraska. No KCAC school is as far west as Great Bend, the closest being Sterling College which is 40 miles to the southeast. Despite that, the City of Great Bend, along with the Great Bend Recreation Commission, will host the KCAC baseball and softball championships for the ninth straight year this May.
Great Bend Convention &
Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes announced earlier this week that
the conference’s tournaments will stay in Great Bend through 2025.
"The KCAC looked at all of their championships," said Hayes. "They bid them all out again and figured out where they wanted to go. They looked at everything from swim to basketball. Every sport was rebid for their championships."
Played at the Great Bend Sports Complex, the KCAC is keen on Great Bend because
both the softball and baseball tournaments can be hosted at the same site. Hayes
said Great Bend had to meet KCAC’s requirements for fields, hotel space and
other accommodations.
"We print tickets for community night, and invite community members to go out to the games for free on Wednesday," said Hayes. "We give away free KCAC t-shirts. They look at what we do for their umpires and teams. We've always given away little goodie bags as they walk through the gates. I also think they like that the Rec is so good in the hospitality room."
To help convince the KCAC to choose Great Bend as their baseball and softball
tournament site, Great Bend pays for 25 hotel rooms for the conference staff
and waives the fee to use the complex. The CVB also pays the fee for the KCAC to
use the Great Bend Events Center for their banquet.
Both the softball and baseball championships will begin May 3 this
year.