4,000 participating at national field hockey festival in Wellington

2016 tournament brought $8 million in spending to area.

As Palm Beach County residents tuck into their turkey and mashed potatoes, thousands of athletes will take to the fields at the International Polo Club as a massive field hockey tournament returns to Wellington this weekend.

The National Hockey Festival bills itself as the world’s largest field hockey tournament, with 4,000 participants in more than 600 games, and thousands of spectators, according to the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.

The games run from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today through Saturday, and the event is free and open to the public.

This past year, the festival generated almost $8 million in direct spending in the area, along with more than 11,000 hotel room nights, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission said in a news release. Hotels from Jupiter to Boca Raton will be temporary homes for the nearly 200 teams from across the country taking part in the festival, said Scott Glinski, senior marketing and communications manager for the county sports commission.

“That’s one that we’re proud to say, is that this has an entire, countywide reach,” he said. That reach goes beyond hotels, he added, with participants heading to restaurants, beaches and entertainment venues. It also extends to Wellington facilities: The sports commission booked fields at Village Park for teams to practice on Wednesday.

This is the 36th installment of the National Hockey Festival and the 11th time it has come to Palm Beach County.

And Palm Beach County won the bid to host the event next year as well, marking the first time it will be held here for three years in a row.

“There are very few destinations in the United States that can host an event of this size,” Glinski said.

The International Polo Club’s 248 acres of “pristine” grass are perfect for field hockey, he added, with about 30 field hockey pitches fitting on just six polo fields.

The event features several age groups, including girls under 12, under 14, under 16 and under 19, and boys under 12. In addition to the games, the festival features a vendor village with merchants selling field hockey apparel, sticks, backpacks and more.

While the venue has been a major draw for the festival’s organizers, Glinski said the sports commission’s “level of service” has been key. “Our tagline is, ‘Just bring your game,’ ” he said, adding that the commission provides volunteers and hospitality workers, sets up tables and builds the vendor village. “We’re an all-hands-ondeck, full-service agency as far as this particular event goes,” he said.