Mr. Ben Bugg, President of the Opelika Dixie Youth Association called a press conference today (November 10, 2010) at 11:00 a.m. in the Opelika City Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 204 South 7^th Street to announce that the City of Opelika has been chosen to host the Dixie Youth Majors State Tournament during the summer of 2011.  The city was chosen for this honor by the Alabama State Board of Dixie Youth Baseball.

            The week long tournament will bring in hundreds of visitors to Opelika and is expected to have a positive economic impact on the area, as the twelve teams and their families, friends and fans, will be staying in our hotels, eating in restaurants, buying gas, etc. during their stay in our community.

            Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller also spoke at the conference.  He thanked the new Opelika Dixie Youth Board for all of the hard work they have done over the past year and promised that the City of Opelika Departments and ESG’s “Team Opelika” will help to make sure the 2011 State Tournament is the BEST tournament ever.

                        Opelika has been playing Dixie Youth Baseball since 1951. They have 3 leagues, Pee Wee (7 & 8 yr. olds), Minor (9 & 10 yr. olds) and Majors (11 & 12 yr. olds).   The Opelika Dixie Youth Association is an independent league and is self funded. The leagues practice and play all games at West Ridge Park. The park has 7 Dixie Youth Fields, 1 Miracle Field, 2 softball fields, and 2 Dixie Boys Fields.

The State Tournament will take place July 22^nd – 27^th, 2001 and be played at the main complex on 2 fields.

            The Tournament Committee, along with the Auburn-Opelika Sports Council – the same group of folks who worked together to secure the Super 6 (High School) Football Championship tournament this coming December at Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn – are one of the main reason this event will be held in Opelika.

The Tournament Committee members will be meeting with businesses and individuals in the coming months to ask them to think about becoming financial sponsors for this major event in the community, and will have sponsorship packages at different levels available for consideration.  If any business / individual are interested in becoming a sponsor please call Ben Bugg (334.319.3286 / bbugg@ci.opelika.al.us ) or D. Mark Mitchell (334.319.0467 / foxonthemark@yahoo.com ). 

            Members of the 2011 Opelika Dixie Youth Majors All-Star team, as representatives of the host city, will automatically be on one of the twelve State Tournament teams.  As D. Mark Mitchell stated, “The kids will remember playing in this tournament the rest of their lives!”

Pictured above:  Ben Bugg, President - Opelika Dixie Youth Association
                            D. Mark Mitchell, Vice Chairman - Auburn-Opelika Sports Council

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