Thousands of Athletes in Erie for MLK Weekend Events

Stars and Stripes Gymnastics Co-ed Invitational and TCS Hockey’s Erie MLK Cup will bring thousands of athletes to compete in Erie this weekend.

“The MLK Weekend has developed into a marquee weekend for sports tourism in Erie County,” said Mark Jeanneret, executive director of the Erie Sports Commission. “Stars and Stripes has been a mainstay on our event calendar, bringing some of the top young gymnasts in the region into our community. TCS organized its first Erie MLK tournament in 2019. The tournament has shown consistent growth and will ice it’s largest Erie tournament to date this weekend.”

The 23^rd annual Stars and Stripes Gymnastics Co-ed Invitational, the state’s largest co-ed invitational meet, runs Friday through Sunday at the Bayfront Convention Center with nearly 2,000 athletes from five states and Canada competing. The event was founded in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and offers free admission to all members of the military, police, fire and rescue workers. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the competition are donated to a military, police or fire and rescue-based organization each year, leading to more than $100,000 donated since the event’s inception.

Competing gymnasts will hit the floor starting at 8:30 a.m. each day. The Main Event, featuring top level male and female gymnasts (Level 10), takes place Saturday at 6 p.m. A full schedule of events can be found here.

More than 60 youth boys’ hockey teams from around the region will take to the ice at LECOM Sports Park, Erie Insurance Arena and Mercyhurst University for the Erie MLK Cup. The tournament will feature a total of 128 games in age groups ranging from 8U to 14U.

Preliminary round games will take place Friday and Saturday. Playoff competition runs at various times on Sunday and Monday. The full tournament schedule can be found here.