Where the Girls Are: Lauderdale Scores Tourist Bucks From Jam-Packed Volleyball Tourney

That's a few points from a match this past weekend between two international youth volleyball squads, with the USA White Youth team in the foreground and a team from the Dominican Republic in the far court. Volleyball players, most of whom were girls, absolutely swarmed SE 17th Street last weekend for the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships at the Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. This year, it fielded a record 92 teams.

But I didn't realize this tournament was such a boon for Broward tourism until I read this article in the New York Times. It finds that while boys' and mens' sports remain the big tickets for spectator sports, girls' tournaments are much more lucrative to the local business community, if only because girls tend to bring an entourage of friends and family, whereas boys' tournaments are all business.

This particular tournament also took place in Fort Lauderdale in 2006 and 2007. Kudos to the visionary in Broward County or city tourism who got out in front of this trend.