USA Hockey Nationals will bring big bucks to South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- For the first time, South Bend will host the USA Hockey National Championships.

On April 4 – 8, the city will host the USA Hockey Tier II 14U Nationals at Compton Family Ice Arena and The Ice Box Skating Rink.

Forty teams will be arriving to South Bend from 36 different states tallying almost 700 participants.

Visit South Bend Mishawaka is expecting over two thousand attendees booking over three thousand hotel room nights.

It’s estimated the tournament will generate an economic impact of 1.7 million dollars through direct spending.

VSBM officials say that 2019 is a premier year for hockey in South Bend.

Not only did the city host the 2019 Winter Classic, but this hockey season, between Fall of 2018 and Spring of 2019, South Bend has hosted  record number of 30 tournaments.

VSBM Sports Market Development Manager Nick Kleva says that hockey drives the city’s market.

 “Hosting these tournaments almost every weekend throughout the year brings in hundreds of thousands of room nights. All those parents and teams are in the restaurants and visiting different attractions around town. So, it just goes to show, once you put all the numbers together, hockey is huge for our community,” Kleva said.

VSBM officials have been bidding on USA Hockey Nationals for years, and they’re hoping South Bend hospitality will bring tournaments back to the city.

 “This is hopefully the first of many tournaments,” Kleva said. “We want to roll out the red carpet for them, we want to make this special so they can see what South Bend does.”