The International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) and the United States Dragon Boat Federation (USDBF) will be hosting the 13th Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) this summer in Sarasota County. The CCWC will be held at Nathan Benderson Park (NBP) from July 18-24. Team arrival and training will be held Friday, July 15 to Monday, July 18. Competition will be held from July 19-24.

Nathan Benderson Park is a world renowned paddling and aquatics facility that has hosted various international and national events since it began hosting organized regatta competitions in 2009. NBP is a unique 600-acre community park that includes a 2,000-meter sprint rowing course and a regatta center. More than $40 million has been devoted to the development of the facility, and with the formation of the NBP Conservancy, a not-for-profit 501c3 business created to manage Nathan Benderson Park, they will continue to grow and promote NBP as a world class event center.

To prepare for this major international event, NBP hosted the U.S. Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew World Championships last year. It was an extremely impactful event, generating almost $900,000.

The International Dragon Boat Federation was founded in 1991 to govern the sport, and the first official IDBF World Nations Championships took place in 1995. Held in alternate years, these championships take place in different locations around the world and are for entire boats from individual clubs around the world. For the 13th Club Crew World Championships, each IDBF member sanction up to five of their member clubs in each competition class in Standard Dragon boats and two clubs in the small boats.

The closing celebration will be held at The Mall at UTC East Grand Entrance and will be a Florida-themed sendoff featuring the diverse culture and cuisines of the Sunshine State.

For those with some free time interested in the event, consider volunteering for the CCWC. The USDBF is currently recruiting volunteers to assist with event set up and tear down, and welcoming various crews from around the world. For more information, head to usdbf.org/news/volunteers-ccwc.

In a new development that demonstrates the flexibility of Visit Sarasota County and its partner NBPC, in March, US Rowing asked us to step in as hosts of the US Masters Rowing Championships to be held Aug. 11-14.

Sarasota County sporting events will continue to play a role in the economic impact and development of our beautiful destination. Another event to mark on your calendars throughout the rest of the year include the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup that was postponed from 2021. The event will be hosted in the U.S. for the first time since 1995 and takes place from Sept. 9-18. The top 12 under-18 teams from around the globe will be competing for the WBSC Baseball World Cup title.

If you are a baseball fan, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the baseball stars of tomorrow right in our own backyard. You can catch these future professional baseball players compete each day at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium and Bradenton’s LECOM Park; ticket information can be found at sarasotabradenton2021.com/tickets.

Virginia Haley is the president of Visit Sarasota County. She can be reached at 941-955-0991 or vhaley@visitsarasota.org.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: VIRGINIA HALEY: Benderson Park to host the 13th IDBF Club Crew Worlds