Visit Quad Cities Attracts Three Summer Events

Visit Quad Cities will host three summer events this year in a variety of sports, the destination has announced.

For the first time, the American Cornhole League will hold an event in the region, bringing its ACL Open on April 9—11. It will be the first event to be held at the new Bend XPO in East Moline, Illinois, which has 100,000 square feet of event space that can fit 120 regulation cornhole courts.

“The American Cornhole League is looking forward to its first event in the Quad Cities region and we are excited to bring the ACL Open event to Bend XPO,” says Brian Ash, American Cornhole League’s midwest conference director. “The staff at Bend XPO has been amazing to work with as we plan guidelines together to insure a safe and fun event. The ACL and its players cannot wait to be the first event at Bend XPO and make this one to remember for a long time.”

The Bass Federation Junior World Championship is set for July 28—30 on the Mississippi River. The event includes a two-person team format and three days of competition, launching from Rapids City, Illinois. In addition to the Junior World Championship, the federation’s annual State Leadership Conference will be hosted in the Quad Cities. The conference invites 49 affiliated state federations in the United States and Canada to send state officials to attend meetings on fishing, youth and conservation items, strategic planning, educational sessions, how to operate their local and state events safely in the era of COVID-19 as well as annual elections of TBF national directors.

“The Quad Cities is the perfect fit for these events,” TBF President and CEO Robert Cartlidge said. “The Quad Cities are centrally located in the U.S. for our travelers from every state and there are lots of things in the area for the families to see and do.”

Along with cornhole and fishing, the International Softball Congress will host the 75th Annual ISC Men’s Fastball World Tournament on August 14—21 at Sheridan Meadows Park in Eldridge, Iowa after being relocated from Kitchener, Ontario. The 2022 ISC World Tournament is already slated to be held at Green Valley Sports Complex in Moline, Ill.

“Hosting the 75th Anniversary of the ISC World Tournament is a privilege and one that Visit Quad Cities looks forward to very much,” said Dave Herrell, president and chief executive officer of Visit Quad Cities. “When the ISC reached out to us looking for possible solutions for this opportunity and the situation they were in for 2021, we were able to quickly create a solution that met their needs. We are grateful for the partnership we have with the city of Eldridge to make this work for August 2021 and are excited we will host back to back years of the tournament when it returns to the Quad Cities again in 2022.”