The tournament will take place this Memorial Day weekend and features 175 teams from all of the New England states, plus New York and New Jersey. Teams play four games apiece on Saturday and Sunday, with Friday and Monday reserved for travel.
John Gibbons, executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Commission, expects the tournament to utilize 18 area hotels, three local college courts (the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and Bryant University), and the state's various hospitality amenities.
"This tournament brings nearly 2,000 athletes and their families to the state," Gibbons said. "It is a great weekend of sport and recreation. They get to visit three great college campuses and enjoy everything Rhode Island has to offer as we kick off our summer season."
The Commotion by the Ocean tournament, now in its 16th year, is organized and run by the Rhode Island Breakers. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournament features teams ages 10 through 18 and the Breakers will field 10 teams throughout the age brackets.
The tournament also boasts the added benefit of hosting more than 100 college coaches. And while it's not a live recruiting period for Division I coaches, Division II and III coaches will be well represented.
Rhode Island Breakers Director and tournament organizer Bill Coughlin says the tournament started as a small enterprise, but has ballooned into something of an event.
"We started at URI and it just got bigger from there," Coughlin says. "It's just a beautiful state. I tell the (other) coaches they can combine work and a vacation. Plus, the kids are in front of 100-125 college coaches. It's a win-win."
The Rhode Island Sports Commission is a division of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau whose mission is to enrich the Rhode Island economy and community through the attraction, promotion and development of sporting events and associated meetings. The Commission is the recipient of the 2011 Readers Choice Award from Sports Events magazine and 2011 Special Recognition Award from the Rhode Island Division of Tourism.