By BEN DUDLEY
The Wilson Post

Wilson County’s economy is more than half a million dollars richer as a result of the recent Continental Amateur Baseball Association (CABA) 2009 World Series Tournament played here in July.

The tournament was for CABA’s 14 & Under League.

Revenue spent by visitors on hotels, meals, shopping and entertainment brought in more than $500,000 to the local economy, said Ricky Rodriguez, director of the Wilson County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

By BEN DUDLEY
The Wilson Post

Wilson County’s economy is more than half a million dollars richer as a result of the recent Continental Amateur Baseball Association (CABA) 2009 World Series Tournament played here in July.

The tournament was for CABA’s 14 & Under League.

Revenue spent by visitors on hotels, meals, shopping and entertainment brought in more than $500,000 to the local economy, said Ricky Rodriguez, director of the Wilson County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The games brought more than 1,000 visitors into Wilson County for a week. There were 10 hotels in Lebanon and Mt. Juliet that served as host hotels for coaches, players and their families. In addition, restaurants and retail stores in the area benefited economically from the tournament.

“Visitors pay taxes that contribute to the local economy and provide ‘tax relief’ for local residents. In other words, visitors to our community pay taxes so that local residents don’t have to,” Rodriguez said.

“We would love to see more of these tournaments. Tourism means more money in the local and state coffers,” he added.

The University of Tennessee’s Tourism Institute said in a study on Wilson County tourism that tourist activity in the county in 2007 generated $97.59 million in direct spending and created $2.86 million in local county tax revenue and $5.75 million in state tax revenue.

“In 2007, because of tourism in the county, local residents paid more than $200 less in taxes,” Rodriguez said.

The tournament was brought here by the Lebanon Sports Commission, which consists of Don Fox, former mayor; Lebanon Parks and Recreation Director William Porter, Larry Hubbard, John Davenport, Brian Woods, Rodriguez and Dusty Jones. The original purpose of the commission was to create a venue for travel tournaments in Lebanon to showcase the town to visitors.

The first time a CABA tournament came to Lebanon, it was the 15 & Under championships.

“We did an OK job,” Hubbard said, “and we signed a contract that said we could host the 14 & Under tournament for as long as we wanted.”

This year’s tournament in Lebanon was voted the 14 & Under CABA World Series Tournament of the Year.

“We wanted to use this tournament not only to bring money to the county,” Hubbard said, “but also to the local schools.”

The baseball teams from Lebanon High School, Mt. Juliet High School, Wilson Central High School, Friendship Christian School and Cumberland University ran the concession stands during the tournament and kept the proceeds for their programs.

Hubbard said that the commission wants to host another baseball tournament and possibly a softball tournament in the future. There are, however, time conflicts with the men’s real jobs as well as the local Little League schedules.

“If you had a travel tournament every weekend, you’ll be keeping the local teams off the fields,” Porter noted. “The Rotary Club sponsors and runs the Babe Ruth league and the Kiwanis Club runs a league. We don’t want to keep them from playing.”

The CABA tournament began on July 17, ending with the championship bracket play from July 22-24. Games were played at Veteran’s Field and Eskew Field at the Baird Park Complex, Cumberland University, Friendship Christian School and Wilson Central High School.

A Home Run Derby and other activities at Veteran’s Field, followed by a fireworks display provided by the City of Lebanon, made for a night of entertainment on July 20. Activities including a barbecue and a luau/swim night, which gave players and their families from different locations a chance to interact with one another, were held at the Jimmy Floyd Family Center.

CABA has teams from 35 states and international teams from 22 countries that participate in league tournaments as well as the World Series and National Championship events.

The Mt. Juliet Bearcats made it to the Championship game, only to lose to the Indiana Bandits in two straight games. The Bearcats were the first Tennessee team to make it to the finals of a CABA tournament.

The tournament will be held in Lebanon again next year. For more information, go to www.cabaworldserieslebanon.com.

Staff Writer Ben Dudley may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .