Sports Anaheim will own and operate a CCA Division II college basketball tournament with both men’s and women’s teams to be held annually in Orange County.
Sports Anaheim is a division of Visit Anaheim, a destination marketing organization that focuses on the cities of Anaheim and Garden Grove.
Cleveland-based CCA is an association of small colleges.
The event is “a huge win for our team and for amateur sports in Orange County,” said Roy Edmondson, vice president of Sports Anaheim.
Sports Anaheim’s ownership of the event ensures local hosting and is a potential revenue stream for Visit Anaheim based on sponsorships and other elements. It also brings the group a bit beyond its traditional Anaheim-Garden Grove focus: The first event will be Nov. 4 to Nov. 6 at Santiago Canyon College, a junior college on the eastern edge of Orange near Jamboree Road.
The tournament had been owned by Get Travel, a sports-focused travel and events firm that’s part of World Strides in El Dorado Hills. Get Travel will be the official travel provider to the event, Visit Anaheim said.
The Annual Tip-Off Classic Tournament is considered “a marquee preseason competition” of the collegiate basketball season, a Visit Anaheim statement said.
Six men’s and six women’s teams from around the U.S. will travel to Orange to compete; Southern California entrants in the events include Azusa Pacific University and California Baptist University in Riverside.
—Paul Hughes
