Related Stories<\/b><\/p>\n Few markets of its size host the quantity or diversity of sporting events this city will see over the next few months. In addition to becoming a hub for youth sports, the city has found its place with niche events ranging from the American Cornhole League to the Innova disc golf company. Winthrop University provides one of the best disc golf courses in the world, which regularly hosts the collegiate national championship, and it has one of the most successful esports teams in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, cheer, dance, cornhole, esports, disc golf \u2014 a little bit of everything,\u201d said John Taylor<\/strong>, director of Rock Hill Parks, Recreation and Tourism<\/a>. \u201cIf it’ll bring money to Rock Hill, we’ll try it. Our weekends are always busy and now we\u2019re real big on trying to push the Monday through Thursday sales.\u201d<\/p>\n Rock Hill, part of the Olde English District<\/a>, has welcomed many different ancillary events in recent years as part of ESPN Ocho, which brings some of the most unique events to air on ESPN, including slippery stairs, air guitar, pillow fighting and a lot more.<\/p>\n A recent visit in May was highlighted by the UCI BMX Racing World Championships, which do not come to the United States very often. The only two times the U.S. has hosted the event since 2001 were in Rock Hill in 2017, and then again in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cRock Hill provides us with a fantastic facility and the city of Rock Hill does absolutely everything to make sure that the UCI is welcome,\u201d said Norm McCann<\/strong>, UCI<\/a> BMX racing consultant. \u201cThis facility is great for the riders, no matter the weather conditions, as they were even able to compete in the rain this week.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rock Hill BMX Supercross Track is special for several reasons. Among them are the Soiltac surface the track implements, making world-class competition possible even in a driving rainstorm. The track is also one of the few in the U.S. that does not require any type of membership, which has led to many BMX riders in the city becoming good enough to qualify for the world championships, including Zach Yonce<\/strong> and his 14-year-old son Gage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re here four days a week, every week,\u201d Yonce said of he and both his sons. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to have something like this here and to see how much my kids have excelled in the two and a half years that they\u2019ve been competing in BMX racing. To get to this level, you\u2019ve got to give credit to this track and being able to come here and put in hard work year-round.\u201d<\/p>\n Zach was eliminated from competition before the quarterfinals of his 45 to 49-year-old Cruiser division. Gage finished 53rd overall in his age group after the final rounds were cancelled due to lightning while 12-year-old Gavin just missed out on qualifying for the event.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand how big this event is,\u201d said Zach Yonce, who with his wife, Christine, own Yonce Motor and Tire Company, a third generation family business. \u201cPeople from all over the world come here and spend money. … I\u2019ve had people who drove here from Canada whose cars were messed up on the way come into my shop so we can get them fixed up and on their way. This event trickles down to every business in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor says in 2017, the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Rock Hill generated about $29 million in estimated economic impact for the region and he expects the 2024 version to rise to around $35 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThis venue was built to host national and international events and we’re just so proud of our community for embracing an event like the UCI,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cIt just makes us excited and it generates a lot of economic impact in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s quite a feat for a city of approximately 75,000 residents to host a UCI World Championship once. To do it twice in a seven-year period when the event has previously been in cities such as Paris and Sao Paolo is astonishing. So how does Rock Hill do it?<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s good old Southern hospitality,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe wrap our arms around this event and we want people to feel welcome. And then we’ve got one of the world-renowned tracks. Our maintenance people do a great job and the UCI knows that. So they’re comfortable with coming back here time after time.\u201d<\/p>\n McCann says in addition to the facility, Rock Hill offers the comforts of feeling at home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe bring a big entourage and we stay in hotels across the city and we utilize restaurants and all sorts of amenities that are available, and everybody that I’ve met has been just so happy that we’re here,\u201d McCann said. \u201cBut they\u2019re also willing to do anything that they can to make sure that everybody who’s involved with this event has a fantastic time in Rock Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n The community turns out in a big way, with large crowds each day of competition. In 2017, there were 55,000 unique spectators through the gates and Taylor says the attendance was tracking beyond that number halfway through this year’s event.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really do sell that Southern hospitality; because if this event goes to a bigger city, the event could kind of get swallowed up,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cSo we sell that one-on-one partnership with UCI and with our partners that are helping to put on this event. And I think that makes the UCI and the BMX community feel like, \u2018Hey, they love us being here and they embrace us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The UCI BMX Racing World Championships are a spectacle to watch \u2014 not just for the on-track action. There are 3,500 competitors between the ages of 8 and 72, with more than 800 riders competing in 400 races each day.<\/p>\n \u201cWith any venue, it’s not just the bricks and mortar that make the difference \u2014 it’s the people,\u201d McCann said. \u201cAnd when we came to do our site visit, the city really was behind it and wanted to ensure that they could provide us with the confidence that, as a city or a small town, Rock Hill was able to actually deliver. And I think it would be fair to say that in 2017, they certainly delivered. And that’s another reason why we’re back here now in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rock Hill team hosted a contingent from Copenhagen throughout the week, as Denmark will host worlds in 2025. After stops in Brisbane in 2026 and France in 2027, the event will be in the U.S. in 2028 in Houston<\/a>, which was scheduled to host in 2020 before the pandemic canceled the event. As for Rock Hill, might it be back in the rotation sooner than later?<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn’t like to let anything out of the bag, but let’s just say maybe we might have a drink or two over it,\u201d McCann said.<\/p>\n The UCI event was Taylor’s swan song as he plans to retire next month after 44 years. He estimates the city does about $100 million per year in sports tourism. It all started with Cherry Park, built in 1985, which includes five baseball\/softball fields and four rectangular fields for lacrosse and soccer.<\/p>\n\n
Ready to Rock<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Providing Southern Hospitality<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Punching Above its Weight<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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