The Grand Strand Stands Alone

In the sports event space, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina stands alone as a four-season destination with venues to host competitions, showcases and tournaments across every discipline.
 

And according to Jonathan Paris, executive director of sports tourism for Visit Myrtle Beach, that’s just part of the appeal. A total of 60 miles of white, sandy beaches, an array of dining and shopping, amusement parks and mini-golf courses, as well as an oceanfront boardwalk and promenade create endless opportunities on the Grand Strand for families to enjoy their time off the field and even to extend the stay.
 

“Myrtle Beach really is the perfect sports tourism destination,” says Paris. “Planning your event here is a slam dunk.”
 

Home Court Advantage

Speaking of slam dunks, Myrtle Beach embraces youth basketball. Each year, the city hosts several events with the National Travel Basketball Association (NTBA), including their girls & boys Championships, which bring in over 600 teams. “We also partner with Big Shots and host several of their NCAA-certified events, bringing in 300 teams,” notes Paris.
 

Visit Myrtle Beach partners with ESPN Events for the Division I Men’s NCAA Myrtle Beach Invitational, held the week before Thanksgiving. And for the past 42 years, Myrtle Beach has hosted one of the premier high school holiday tournaments, the Beach Ball Classic, played on a wood floor at the 5,000-seat Myrtle Beach Convention Center and featuring 16 high school teams from across the U.S. In recent years, a girls’ division was added.
 

The main indoor facility for youth basketball events is the 100,000-square-foot John T. Rhodes Myrtle Beach Sports Center, which has LED lighting and can accommodate up to eight courts on a wood floor surface. The facility has flexible seating for up to 2,500 and offers several meeting and team rooms.
 

Additional facilities along the Grand Strand include the J. Bryan Floyd Community Center in North Myrtle Beach featuring two courts and various high school and recreation center gyms. For collegiate events, the city partners with Coastal Carolina University’s HTC Center, which has seating for 3,400, six locker rooms, hospitality areas and video boards.
 

The Volleyball Scene
The hardwood courts of Myrtle Beach also play host to volleyball events, and it is here that the sports center really shines. The facility can house up to 16 volleyball courts and consistently hosts tournaments with more than 100 teams. If needed, recreation centers and high schools can be pressed into service to accommodate overflow play. The convention center can host up to 15 courts as well, and there are outdoor shorefront beach volleyball courts at Burroughs and Chapin Pavilion Place.
 

“Each year, Myrtle Beach hosts several volleyball tournaments,” Paris said. “Our largest, by far, is the Winter Bump Volleyball Classic, held over MLK weekend at the John T. Rhodes Myrtle Beach Sports Center, the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and several overflow gyms.”
 

One of the World’s Oldest Sports Plays Here Too

Track & field, contested in the earliest Olympic Games, has a home in Myrtle Beach. The area’s outdoor track & field facility underwent a $6 million renovation in 2017 to make it one of the finest in the Southeast, according to Paris. Jointly owned by the city and Horry County Schools, the facility boasts an eight-lane track that received a new Beynon surface and the addition of a second straightaway, new bleachers, a new videoboard and more.
 

“The upgrade created the opportunity for the City of Myrtle Beach to invest more into the sport of track & field,” Paris says. “With a dedicated focus on creating new track events, the city now owns and operates several track & field events under the City of Myrtle Beach ‘Spring Break Meets’ banner.”
 

Those meets (the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge and the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational) are held each March during the traditional college spring break time and collectively bring more than 2,000 track & field athletes from multiple states to the city. Other events include the Beach Run Invitational, as well as the Myrtle Beach Freshman and Sophomore Relays. Myrtle Beach hosted its first NCAA championship in May when the 2024 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships came to Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
 

Diamonds that Shine
When the Great American Pastime plays at Myrtle Beach, it does so in style, in any of several top-notch venues. Grand Park Athletic Complex has top-quality turf fields for baseball and softball, as well as concessions, a batting cage and other attractions. And just a little further up the Grand Strand is the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex, a 160-acre park with both a baseball/softball facility with multiple amenities.
 

Myrtle Beach is also the home of one of the Ripken Experience venues. This unique youth baseball complex has all-turf fields, including three regulation-size diamonds and five youth diamonds, all designed to look like historic ballparks and primed to give young players a big-league experience.
 

Soccer, Lacrosse and More
Sports that play out on rectangular fields (soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, rugby, football, quadball, Ultimate and others) will find a home in Myrtle Beach too. The North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex has eight fields, four of which are lighted for night play. The Grand Park Athletic Complex also has fields that can host soccer, lacrosse, football and more.
 

Event owners for emerging sand-based disciplines, including beach soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby and field hockey, will find  field of dreams on Myrtle Beach.
 

The Golf Capital
The Myrtle Beach area is home to more than 90 award-winning golf courses and unsurprisingly, is a destination for both tournament and leisure golf travel.
 

“What makes these courses special is both the quality of the courses and the staff. As a destination, we are fortunate to have courses that are more than capable of running large events, which allows us to host events that attract golfers from around the globe,” says Paris. “More than half of the member golf course layouts have received four stars or more in Golf  Digest’s prestigious ‘Best Places to Play’ guide.”
 

In May, a brand-new PGA TOUR event, the Myrtle Beach Classic, brought even more attention to the destination as the only new first time event on the PGA with over 41,000 spectators taking to the course over the four-day event.
 

Myrtle Beach generally hosts 10 annual events that include Barstool Classic Myrtle Beach, Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am, World Amateur Handicap Championship, Myrtle Beach Preseason Classic, Dustin Johnson World Junior Championship, Palmetto High School Golf Championship, Veterans Golf Classic and Calabash Cup. The NCAA Men’s DI Golf Regional and other collegiate competitions are also part of the mix.
 

A Mix of Sports
With so many flexible venues, Myrtle Beach can host a variety of other sports, including tennis, cheer, dance, wrestling, gymnastics, strength competitions, cornhole, pickleball, martial arts and more. And of course, the area is excellent for events where organizers can use the beach as a venue, like open water swims and triathlons.
 

Getting There, Staying There and Dining There
The Myrtle Beach International Airport welcomes flights from across the country. Once on the ground, it is possible to get rental cars, rideshares, taxis or any other form of transportation. The Visit Myrtle Beach website also has a calculator showing mileage from major cities for those who want to drive.
 

Myrtle Beach has approximately 425 hotels, with many on the beachfront, plus bed and breakfasts, condos, Airbnb, VRBO and other accommodations, all in a variety of price points.
 

Fun Fact: Myrtle Beach has more restaurants per capita than Paris and New York, according to an article in the Sun News. And just as with lodging, dining options are almost unlimited, from family-friendly chain restaurants to fine dining to independent beachfront establishments where the seafood is fresh and the views are spectacular. In fact, there’s no way to go wrong a place choosing to unwind after a long day of competition.
 

“Come see why the Myrtle Beach area has such a long and celebrated history as a top sports tourism destination,” says Mark Beale, general manager of the Myrtle Beach Sports Center.
 

For more information, go to www.visitmyrtlebeach.com. SDM