Middletown dips toes into sports tourism with football tourneys

MOT youth football officials believe their program is more than ready for the big stage.

The Middletown-Odessa-Townsend organization will have an opportunity to prove that not only once, but twice this month as it hosts two regional elite-caliber youth football tournaments the next two weekends.

After years of taking teams on the road to tournaments as far away as Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, MOT Youth Football & Cheer president Ken Anderson convinced the board this year that everything was in place for Middletown to shine as host.

More than 60 out-of-state youth football teams will join eight from Delaware, including seven from MOT, for the Big East All-American Bowl this weekend (Dec. 9-10), with 30 teams participating, and the National Youth Football Championships the next (Dec. 16-17), with 39 teams.

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The tournaments will draw teams from as far away as Massachusetts to Virginia, with many coming from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The only other Delaware team is comprised of players from the Kent County Stallions, Newark Knights and Wilmington Titans. 

With that comes an opportunity not only for the MOT youth football organization to show it can play host to elite regional tournaments, but also for the growing town of Middletown to rake in some of the youth sports tourism dollars in an industry that brings in $10 billion annually nationwide.

"We’ll have several thousand people here for the two tournaments," Anderson said. "The participation has grown and so has the excitement."

Anderson said he has had people ask him why now in terms of MOT Youth Football stepping into the big-time tournament arena. He said for one, he has seen an evolution in the league – from 80 players and four teams when he started 19 years ago to 600 kids and 27 teams this year.

The second, and maybe the more important reason, is the dissatisfaction in the tournaments in which MOT has participated, some of which have shown total disregard for the age requirements and safety protocols, he said.

"The biggest thing in making this decision is quality. We pay a lot of money to travel and we haven’t always been happy with the quality of the tournament or the integrity," Anderson said. "We feel we can put on one of the best tournaments in the country and can do a better job as host. We want our players to have a better experience."

Anderson said it doesn't hurt that families won't have to travel like in years past, especially around the holidays. He said feedback from parents has been positive.

The president and coach of one of the older teams said the tournaments will take place at the MOT Youth Football & Cheer facility in Middletown, as well as two stadiums – Middletown High School and Appoquinimink High School. 

While some of the opening round games in the younger divisions will be played on the grass fields at the MOT facility, most games will be played on the turf fields at the two high school stadiums.

Anderson, the coaches and the nearly 200 players ages 7-14 from the MOT Youth Football organization participating in the tournaments believe they can compete with the best teams in the Mid-Atlantic.

Having won multiple regional championships as a coach in the MOT program, Anderson knows his teams will be competitive. 

Xavier Brooks, the coach of the 9U MOT Cavs team, says that isn't even a question. Having taken three of the four teams he has coached to the MOT league championship game, Brooks believes it starts with him.

"We can definitely compete against these teams," he said. "We have a lot of good talent in MOT. If the teams are coached right, you are going to see a lot of good things out there." 

As for the players, there isn't even a doubt.

"They are going to try their best and we are going to try our best," said Jacque Wilson, a linebacker and defensive end for the 9U Cavs. "Those teams are going to be hard to win against, but I think our team can win it."

Anderson said that MOT Youth Football & Cheer is a non-profit organization, so any money generated from the two tournaments will go right back into the tournament and programming.

"Hopefully, we'll make a little bit from the tournaments," he said. "We made up our minds early on that we were going to make this as good as it can be. We’re pretty much putting everything back into the tournaments to try to make them great experiences for all." 

Economic impact

Anderson has heard good things from area restaurants, hotel, and business owners. 

"I think the benefits are tremendous," he said. "All of our hotels are packed and our restaurants will see a lot of business generated from the tournament."

With rosters ranging from 22-29 players for the 62 out-of-state teams, MOT and elected officials, as well as business owners, look for the thousands of people coming to Middletown to add to the area's economy.

Middletown Vice Mayor Jim Reynolds, co-founder of the original MOT Youth Football organization, believes this will put MOT football on the sports tournament map.

"They are promoting Middletown, which is a football town," he said. "It will be a boon for the business owners in the area."

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Dr. Matt Robinson, chairman of the board for the Delaware Sports Commission, couldn't say what the economic impact of the two weekend tournaments would be without conducting a study.

But based on the number of out-of-state teams staying two nights in at least eight area hotels and a couple of thousand people eating in area restaurants and shopping at local businesses, he said it should be millions of dollars.

Robinson said that the DSC-sponsored Slam Dunk to the Beach event that will showcase top high school basketball athletes from all over the country Dec. 27-29 at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes is a good indicator.

The showcase has drawn 30,000 people the past three years and filled three to four area hotels for an economic impact of at least $1 million each year, Robinson said. The event is expected to draw 12,000 people this year.

"MOT Youth Football should be applauded for this," Robinson said. "Middletown will certainly benefit from the two events, but the state also sees benefits from bringing in out-of-state teams. This will surely add to the state's economy."

For Rishen Patel, the inaugural tournaments come a year early for him to share in the bounty as a hotel owner — his Holiday Inn Express is just now being built in the Westown area and should be open in July 2018.

But he’ll no doubt see some of the youth sports tourism dollars generated by people eating at his downtown Manhattan Bagel restaurant.

Patel said that while he knows his bagel shop will see increased business each of the two weekends, he said sports was one of the main reasons he is building Middletown's second hotel. 

With the Middletown sports complex on Levels Road once again moving forward after a delay because of the previous owners filing for bankruptcy, Patel believes another hotel in the Westown area of town will reap the rewards in the future.

"This is good for me as a business owner and good for Middletown," Patel said. "Sports was one of the reasons we looked at building a hotel. We know events like this will help support the endeavor." 

Monica Brooks, MOT's tournament coordinator, said Middletown's Hampton Inn was the first of eight hotels – as far away as Smyrna, New Castle, Wilmington and the Christiana Mall area – to have been completely booked for the two tournaments.

Brooks said that preparations for hosting the tournaments started seven months ago. She can attest that with big tournaments come big headaches.

Brooks said finding 94 hotel rooms for one out-of-state team tops the list.

"It was difficult because they wanted to be in the same hotel, with free breakfast," she said. "A lot of the hotels in our area, including the Hampton Inn, weren’t big enough to accommodate that request. We've had to split some of the teams up and we’ve had people and teams waiting until the last minute, so I've had to book them farther away."

But all in all, Brooks said the planning and preparations have gone surprisingly well and the feedback from other youth football organizations has been positive.

"It's the WOW factor," she said. "They are saying we are having an elite tournament like this and we don’t have to travel to North Carolina or Florida to play good teams."

Brooks said hosting the elite tournaments is bigger than anything the organization has done to date. But with the help of 35 volunteers and a large number of willing parents, she said Middletown is poised to take the big stage.

The only question that remains is Middletown up to the challenge?

"I think Middletown and even the state are ready for this," Anderson said. "These tournaments are already creating a buzz and bringing a lot of excitement to Delaware."

For more information about the tournaments or the MOT Youth Football & Cheer program, visit www.motyfcl.com.

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.