If you wonder why downtown is so busy this weekend...Here's why!!

This weekend and next, Spokane will be site of the 11th annual Pacific Northwest Qualifier at the Spokane Convention Center, Eastern Washington University and the Valley HUB.

The tournament, hosted by Evergreen Region Volleyball, first started with 70 teams and has increased 114 teams this year to 390 mainly because of Open Division growth that qualifies teams coming from 13 states to various USA Volleyball age-group national tournaments. There is also a Club Division for less advanced teams.

Friday-Sunday includes ages 12-15, including two open classifications. The week of March 28-30 is for 16-18-year-olds with open tournaments in all three age groups.

The Spokane Regional Sports Commission estimates 9,000 guests for up to three nights will provide an economic impact to the city of $4.1 million during the two weekeends.

Convention center is already paying dividends!  Great to see!