St. Cloud Welcomes Thousands of Youth Basketball Players

ST. CLOUD -- Thousands of youth basketball players and their families will call St. Cloud home this weekend.

The St. Cloud Area Youth Basketball Association (SCAYBA) is hosting their 30th Annual "Quarry Classic" starting Saturday.

Tournament Director Justin Skaalerud says they have 284 boys and girls teams from 3rd grade to 8th grade coming to play from across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. He says new this year is the 3rd grade bracket.

This is actually the first year we've had a third grade bracket as third grade travel basketball is a newer thing.

Games will be played at courts at Whitney Center, Apollo High School, Sartell Community Center, College of St. Benedict's, St. John's University, Kennedy Elementary School and South Jr. High School.

Besides the games, the tournament is also a great money maker for the St. Cloud area.

Julie Lunning is the Executive Director with Visit Greater St. Cloud. She says local businesses really benefit from the influx of people, especially lodging.

We definitely are sold out here in the St. Cloud area and pretty much sold out every where within a 30-40 mile radius of St. Cloud. We have a tremendous demand for lodging for this weekend.

Lunning says the Quarry Classic is one of the largest sporting events St. Cloud hosts throughout the year.

Games tip off at 7:00 a.m. Saturday and will conclude at 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets to games are $7 for adults and $5 for kids.