CLEARWATER, Fla. — The college softball season is kicking into high gear in Pinellas County. 16 teams from around the country are facing off in the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational over the weekend.

For softball fans like Briana Shoemaker, it’s a big deal to see some of the top-ranked college softball teams face each other in one place. 

“It’s a girl’s sport, women empowerment, we’re here for it,” she said. “It’s just fun to watch.”

Shoemaker and her friends drove 10 hours from Knoxville, TN to Clearwater just to watch their favorite sport and cheer on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers.

“It’s a huge thing,” she said. “We’ve all played softball our entire lives, also played at the college level, so to watch big teams out here it’s a good thing to see. We love to keep up with it.”

The tournament is drawing in lots of fans like Shoemaker from around the country. Brian Lowack, president and CEO of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, estimates upwards of 8,000 people will fill the stands during the four-day tournament. Additionally, Lowack expects the event to contribute more than $11 million to the local economy.

“All those friends, families and fans and teams that come in to the destination for the tournament, they’ve got to eat, they’ve got to shop, they want to experience the destination,” he said. “We expect to get a large economic impact at that local places of business here in Clearwater.”

There’s a long-term impact to major sporting events like this, too. Lowack explained the national, sometimes international, interest helps showcase Pinellas County as an ideal destination.

“Not only do they bring visitors to our destination, fill hotels and provide economic impact while they’re in destination, but we also get tremendous exposure from them,” he said.

Lowack said attracting more large-scale sports and entertainment events is a priority of the tourism agency. As for Shoemaker, she plans to come back to the area in the future.

“I’ve actually never been to Clearwater, so this is so fun,” she said. “The beaches, the weather — back home we’re having really bad weather right now, so this is wonderful.”

Sunday was supposed to be the final day of the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational, but due to inclement weather, the games have been cancelled for the safety of the players, coaches and fans, officials said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

All tickets purchased for Sunday will be refunded through the sporting event's ticketing partner, Etix.