Cape Girardeau in 2021: A 'regional hub' for community, sporting events

During the coronavirus pandemic, Cape Girardeau was one of the only places in the region to host sporting and community events, according to Alyssa Phares, senior director of sales and strategy at Visit Cape.

Six months into 2021, Phares said hosting these types of events throughout the pandemic set the tone for success by helping to fuel tourism, and may have even given the city a new reputation.

"For a year that was counted as a 'pandemic year,' and having to figure out different ways to do almost everything, [Cape Girardeau] has come out [of the pandemic] very strong, and I believe that our next fiscal year 2022 will be even stronger," she said.

During the pandemic, Phares said the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department found ways to make it safe to hold indoor and outdoor sporting events at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex.

When venues began to close down and sporting events across the nation were canceled in spring of last year, Phares said a lot of teams from neighboring states started coming to Cape Girardeau to participate in tournaments at the SportsPlex.

A race official waves in one of the first cars to arrive on Main Street during the Great Race visit June 22 in downtown Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

As it turns out, she said many who participated in the 2020 tournaments have come back to participate again this year.

"Because we had experienced — during the pandemic — hosting sports and other kinds of events, it just helped kind of fuel us into 2021," Phares said. "We became known as a sort of regional hub for both community and sporting events."

A few tournaments held over the last couple of years at the SportsPlex include softball tournaments of more than 120 teams and basketball tournaments with more than 100 companies participating, each featuring teams from St. Louis, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Michigan and more, Phares said.

In addition to sports tournaments at the SportsPlex, Cape Girardeau has also become known for its wide variety of community events and capacity to host large crowds, she said, which largely benefits tourism and the local economy.

Phares used the example of the Great Race, which made a stop in Cape Girardeau last month and brought hundreds of overnight guests to the city, as well as a variety of other services.

When planning community and sporting events, Phares said she likes to think of them as someone's "first impression of Cape Girardeau," and what the city has to offer.

"It's about more than just bringing people in. ... It's about building community, building a place where people want to live, where they want to work and where they want to play," she said. "That's what's important — making the community vibrant and healthy and helping it to evolve and grow."

Phares said the "amazing" events being held in Cape Girardeau, combined with the feedback she gets from event organizers and attendees is what makes her feel so positive about the future.

Cape Girardeau has many community events scheduled throughout the summer and fall, including the Motorcycle Mini-Chase on July 10, Twisted Cat fishing tournament on July 17 and Shipyard Music Festival in September, among others. To view the full schedule of upcoming events in Cape Girardeau, visit www.visitcape.com.

To view upcoming events at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex, 2526 Jim Drury Way, visit www.cityofcape.org/sportsplex, or visit the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex Facebook page www.facebook.com/capesportsplex.