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Soccer tournament cancellations significant loss for Barboursville, Kanawha Valley

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. — The hits keep coming to local economies around West Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic with cancellations and closures.

The areas of the Barboursville Soccer Complex and the Shawnee Sports Complex in Dunbar are the latest to feel the impact with the cancellation of the multiple United States Youth Soccer events scheduled for this summer at the respective facilities.

The US Youth Soccer organization made the announcement this week for its events including the Eastern Presidents Cup slated for June 19-23, and the Eastern Regional Tournament scheduled for June 26-July 2.

The events hosted by the complexes in 2019 resulted in hotels booked from Clendenin to Ashland, Kentucky, Barboursville Mayor Chris Tatum told MetroNews. He said there will be an economic loss to the area of $15 to $20 million.

Chris Tatum

“I think it’s unfortunate but it’s necessary for the safety and well-being of thousands of people right now. I hate to see the area lose out on those tourism dollars but at the same time with everything going on, it was a wise decision,” Tatum said.

In 2019, just the Eastern Regional Tournament brought around 4,500 athletes on 260 teams from 13 states to the area. The teams in the tournament traveled from a dozen states including Maine, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

The 2021 US Youth Soccer events have already been booked, which includes the Eastern Presidents Cup in West Virginia from June 19-23, 2021. The 2021 regional is slated for New Jersey but Tatum is hopeful the soccer association will consider West Virginia for host sites in 2022.

Barboursville has hosted the regionals in 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016 but Tatum said having Shawnee open was a gamechanger that has brought more tournaments to the pair of complexes.

Tatum further told MetroNews that there is a silver lining in the situation and it includes more time to complete a $1.8 million investment at the Barboursville complex including synthetic turf, lighting upgrades and other improvements.

He said crews will put the finishing touches on the improvements when the stay-at-home orders are clear and more federal guidelines are lifted. The scheduled improvements have attracted more interest in complex use for other sports and that is how Tatum hopes to make up for part of the loss with US Youth Soccer.

“This virus is not an end-all, be-all,” he said. “It’s a transition point and hopefully one that helps us all grow in some way.

“More importantly when it’s back to normal, we are doing what we are known to do.”





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