This week’s First Four event is expected to inject about $4 million into the area’s economy and provide plenty of name recognition for the region. But the tipoff to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is just one slice of a robust youth and amateur sports tourism industry that brings more than $100 million in economic impact to the area annually.

Montgomery County estimates that such events bring about $50 million in economic impact each year, and Warren County said it added about $39 million to the economy last year. Butler, Champaign, Clark, Greene and Miami counties don’t track total numbers, but the staging of the U.S. Air Force Marathon in Greene County ($12.7 million in economic impact) pushes the seven-county area’s total past the $100 million mark.

Officials said they seek and nurture events such as the four games of the NCAA tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at UD Arena.

Increasing tourism dollars is an obvious reason for the push. Another: These events, for the most part, are “recession-proof,” meaning attendees or participants and their parents will not often cut them from their budgets.

The events, most notably large soccer tournaments, fill hotel rooms and restaurant tables as well as beef up the area’s reputation, officials said.

“We’ve found it to be an extremely significant market for us,” said Jacquelyn Powell, president and CEO of the Dayton/Montgomery County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The youth sports tourism industry has been estimated to generate between $5 billion and $7 billion annually. The National Council of Youth Sports said that from 1997 to 2008, youth sports participants grew 34 percent, from about 44.9 million to 60.3 million.

The Dayton area is continuing efforts to attract that slice of tourism dollars with what it says are easily accessible facilities, quality tournaments, plenty of hotels and restaurants, and affordable visiting.

“When you stop and think about what brings large amounts of people to a community, you think of conventions and you think of sports,” said Patrick Rishe, director of the national research group Sportsimpacts. “Really, those are the two drivers. So obviously, youth sports is a huge piece of what communities are trying to do.”

More basketball?

Montgomery County officials said they began focusing efforts on sports tourism about a decade ago. By that time, several large events, including soccer and volleyball tournaments, had taken root in the area.

Success in those events, officials said, boosted their confidence in gaining others. An example is the World Guard International World Championships, which the area hosts for two weekends each April, and brings an estimated $15 million into the area. WGI officials have continued returning to the area and recently pledged to keep the competition here through 2019, Powell said.

Last year, the Dayton/Montgomery County CVB asked the National Association of Sports Commissions to prepare a report on the area’s sports tourism industry. It praised the Miami Valley but said an area of possible growth is in youth basketball, particularly girls basketball.

Area tourism boards seek events that are recurring and one-time. Aside from the regular stream of large soccer events throughout the year, Beavercreek hosted the 2010 U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championships, which rotates each year within the region’s 13 states. Officials said the event brought 212 teams and $9.6 million into the area for the five-day event. It has since been awarded to the area again for 2014.

Other events, including the President’s Cup volleyball tournament (hosted by the Dayton Juniors), adidas Warrior Soccer Classic (Warrior Soccer Club of Huber Heights), Creek Classic (Beavercreek Soccer Association) and Mead CUSA Cup (Centerville United Soccer Association), originated in the area.

“You’re not so typical,” said Don Schumacher, executive director of the Cincinnati-based National Association of Sports Commissions. “Some of the local organizations created these events, which speaks to the people you have there.”

The locally produced events are an example of the marriage between tourism and operations in attracting teams, officials said. Visitors won’t come if there isn’t quality competition arranged by the organizers, but they need entertainment, food and hotels, too.

Roly Roldan, whose Oakland Elite Volleyball club from Michigan brought nine of its 40 teams to last month’s President’s Cup, which was held at five area facilities as well as the Columbus Convention Center, said his group was impressed with the Miami Valley.

“The quality of the tournament is one of the best around; you don’t have a bad match,” Roldan said. “Then they had the other things for our kids and parents to do when we weren’t playing.”

Bringing in money

The Air Force Marathon is the area’s biggest economic driver among the youth and amateur sports events, according to numbers supplied by the county convention and visitors bureaus. The 2011 event — which set a record with 13,000 runners — injected about $12.7 million into to the local economy.

Montgomery County averages about 35 amateur and youth sports events per year, and $50 million in impact. Warren County said it hosted 58 events in 2011 for an estimated impact of $39 million, including 12 events with more than 2,500 attendees. Of those, the biggest was the Cincinnati United Cup soccer tournament, which was hosted in Lebanon, Cleves and Cincinnati, and produced an estimated $4.9 million in impact.

Other counties reported a variety of events impacting their communities. Butler County’s main events ranged from soccer tournaments to the 2011 World Disabled Water Ski Championships at Voice of America Park in West Chester Twp. (impact of $275,000).

In Miami County, the Troy Strawberry Festival Soccer Invitational ($3 million) is important, but in February the area also hosted the 18th Annual Southern Eastern Great Lakes figure skating competition at Hobart Arena.

Within the past year, Clark County has brought in both the AAU Junior Olympic Games qualifier, Ohio United States Bowling Congress Women’s Bowling Association Championship Tournament and the Great Buckeye Challenge triathlon and duathlon event.

Dozens of other sports events are mainstays in the area, including youth baseball (Kings Island Baseball Invitational, $2 million), hockey (Silver Stick Mid-American Regional) and basketball (three Warren County tournaments in 2011 produced $6.6 million in impact).

Soccer remains the major economic driver. Of the seven area events that counties reported producing an impact of at least $3 million, five are soccer tournaments. Area officials said the unique number and quality of fields, as well as the passionate organizers in the area, make that a booming market in the Miami Valley.

“It’s volunteers, the cities, the townships, the businesses, a lot of people involved,” said John Ankeney, executive director of the Beavercreek Soccer Association and namesake of Beavercreek’s 65-acre and 20- to 34-field John Ankeney Soccer Complex.

“You have such a wide spectrum of people involved, and it brings a lot of money to the area.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.