Asheville is a Great Place for Sports Fans
By Janet Moore
Discover Your Favorite New Team in Asheville
There's nothing better than a day filled with sports. Add some good food, a cold beverage and a front row seat and you're well on your way to finding a new favorite sports team in Asheville. Whether its baseball, basketball, tennis or roller derby, Asheville can provide heart-pumping action coupled with a memorable afternoon.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The Asheville Tourists have a long and colorful history that dates back to 1897. Today this minor league team plays in the Class A South Atlantic League against opponents such as the Greenville Drive and the Hickory Crawdads. Since 2021, it has been the farm team for the Houston Astros.
Home games are played at McCormick Field, which opened in 1924, and provided occasional scenes for the movie Bull Durham prior to its 1992 renovation. The facility served as the home field for the Asheville Blues of the Southern Negro League during the 1940's.
With 4,000 seats, there is plenty of room for local fans and visitors to enjoy the excitement of America’s national pastime on throughout the gorgeous spring and summer months.
Keeping up with the runs, hits, outs and errors is the scoreboard that reads Visitors and Tourists. Whether you are a visitor or a tourist, the family-friendly atmosphere and player engagement make Asheville Tourist games a perfect outing for everyone.
Get a first look at March Madness
A big fan of March Madness? Check out Division I men's basketball at UNC Asheville, a team that won a program best 27 games during the 2022-23 season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.
The men's and women's team play at Kimmel Arena, just minutes from downtown Asheville. The women's team won back-to-back Big South Tournament championships in 2016 and 2017 to make the NCAA Tournament in both years.
Championship Basketball Tournament in Asheville
The four-team Division I men's basketball field of the Asheville Championship, an early-season men's college basketball tournament hosted at Harrah's Cherokee Center, will be played this year on Nov. 10-12, 2023.
Get an early look at Clemson, Maryland, Davidson and UAB, who will compete in the third edition of the tournament. The tournament began in 2021, the year after Asheville hosted the Maui Invitational due to COVID-19 concerns.
Maryland reached the second round of the last NCAA Tournament, while Clemson was one of the first four teams to miss the field, instead accepting an NIT bid. UAB went 29-10 and reached the NIT championship game last season, and Davidson is coming off of a 16-16 campaign in its first year under coach Matt McKillop.
Home to the SoCon Tournament
Asheville plays host to the annual Southern Conference (or SoCon) men's and women's basketball tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center each year in early March. The city rolls out the red carpet for fans from East Tennessee State University, Furman, Mercer, Samford, The Citadel, UNC Greensboro, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Virginia Military Institute, Western Carolina University and Wofford. The winner of the tournament punches their ticket to the NCAA Tournament later that month.
During the tournament, Asheville enters a basketball craze. From welcoming parties for a community of fans, to the Downtown Dribble -- an event that features 500 children bouncing basketballs through downtown Asheville -- everyone feels the championship passion. Local restaurants and shops get in the act with basketball-themed menus and window displays. Only one team can punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but every fans leaves a winner after spending a spirited weekend in Asheville.
Along with the welcome mats are wrestling mats. This is also home to the SoCon Wrestling Championship.
Asheville is a Soccer Town
From pick-up games every day and multiple adult leagues, Asheville is a soccer city. But the biggest soccer show in town is Asheville City Soccer Club or more commonly known as Asheville City SC. Founded in 2016, the men's team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The women's team was founded in 2017 and played in the Women's Premier Soccer League until joining the newly-formed USL W League for the 2022 season.
The team colors are blue and white and games are played at Greenwood Field at UNC Asheville. The 2023 regular season begins at home for the men on May 20 against East Atlanta with the women getting underway May 13 against East Fusion. Check out the full schedule here.
Roller Derby Returns to Asheville
Blue Ridge Roller Derby (formerly the Blue Ridge Roller Girls) has been bringing the unique sport of roller derby to the greater Asheville area since its founding in 2006. The sport of flat track roller derby combines the pure athleticism of full-contact gameplay on roller skates with a touch of theatrics like, often pun-filled, derby stage names for the track.
“After missing three competitive seasons due to COVID, I can’t wait to get back to competitive play. It will be exciting to see this revitalized community of skaters bring their heart and skill to outside leagues,” Brittany Hedges, known as Tyrannosaurus Rox on the track, said. “Roller derby has always been ‘for the skaters, by the skaters’ and it’s time to see our hard work manifested on the track!”
Blue Ridge Roller Derby is a member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the international governing body of the sport, and brought a Division II World Championship title home to Asheville in 2016. Their travel teams represent the mountains with sanctioned gameplay against teams in surrounding cities and states.
The league kicks off their competitive season with a double-header against Charlotte Roller Derby at the Smoky Mountain Event Center, 758 Crabtree Rd., in Waynesville on April 29, May 27 and June 17. Doors open at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids aged 12-18 and free for children under 11 and can be purchased at the door or online at blueridgerollerderby.com.
