Tennessee offers many options for sports travel. Music fans also flock to the state, especially to Nashville and Memphis, two of the top music cities in the country.
Premium Venues in Memphis
Memphis’s Belz Museum holds the largest collection of Asian art in the Mid-South. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis used to be the Lorraine Motel, the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. There are permanent and temporary exhibits of national and international civil rights history and milestones. LaserQuest in Memphis is an awesome multi-level arena where your team can play laser tag. The arena has fog, specialty lighting and theme music. At CTI IMAX, watch exciting movies on a screen that is four stories tall. Visit Casey Jones Village in nearby Jackson, Tennessee. The vintage buildings in this village, named after the famous railroad engineer, display an extensive collection of about 15,000 antiques. And you can also listen to live bluegrass music every Thursday night.
Desoto Civic Center can host hockey, basketball, wrestling, volleyball, boxing, indoor football and indoor soccer. Amenities include a catering kitchen, seven locker rooms and A/V tech support. The arena can seat 10,000. Facilities at the University of Memphis campus include volleyball, basketball, football, baseball, softball, track and soccer. Gameday Sportsplex, strictly for baseball, is a 60-acre campus with 10 baseball fields. The Mike Rose Soccer Complex has 16 lighted soccer fields with a 3,500-seat stadium. It hosts 20 tournaments a year, attracting teams from all states in the U.S. and from Ireland, England and Canada.
Nashville: Sports/Country
While in Nashville you can keep your mind active by visiting Adventure Science Center, where the Space Chase exhibit lets visitors train to be astronauts and travel through the solar system. The museum’s human body exhibit gives athletes insight on how their body operates and how they can keep it healthy. The Country Music Hall of Fame displays authentic instruments from the stars, funky wardrobes and actual lyric sheets that have turned into hits. The Tennessee Titans play at LP Field. For NHL action, see the Nashville Predators play at Bridgestone Arena. Relive Civil War days at Travellers Plantation & Museum.
Centennial Sportsplex has a combination of facilities for different sports events. It has an Olympic-size pool, a recreational pool, 17 tennis courts and an ice rink. Showtime Sports Academy has a soccer field and basketball court available for rental. The West Side Athletic Club has four hard indoor tennis courts. The athletic club also has a soccer program called the West Side Soccer Center and it has an indoor soccer court with an official surface for matches.
Fun in the Outdoors
Kingsport, Tennessee is close to Bristol Motor Speedway. Visit and see where the monsters of NASCAR tear through the track during racing season. For minor league baseball, take in a game of the Kingsport Mets, affiliated with the New York Mets. Hike the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail, blazed by its namesake and also used by American Indians for commerce and raids. In Gray, Tennessee the Gray Fossil Site is East Tennessee State University’s famous dig site. At Appalachian Caverns in Blountville walk along lighted paths and see towering helictites in Northeast Tennessee’s largest commercial caverns.
Hunter Wright Stadium is a full-size baseball stadium available for rent. Borden Park has six lighted tennis courts, a full basketball court and a volleyball court. Lynn View Community Center sports a basketball court, baseball field and a football field. Scott Adams Skate Park has two bowls for getting elevation and speed and a streetscape course with steps and grinding rails. Bays Mountain Reservoir is a place to hone your mountain biking skills with trails for all difficulties.
Down Home Sports in Knoxville
Bike Knoxville is a historic tour of the city on bikes. Your team will learn as they get their hearts pumping. Take in a game of the Smokies, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For some fun water sports, A-Affordable Jet Ski Rental is located in downtown Knoxville. A place for your team to run wild is the Zuma Fun Center. There are go-karts, miniature golf courses, batting cages, bumper boats, rock climbing and a complete video game arcade.
West Hills/John Bynon Park has four baseball/softball fields, one soccer/football field, 14 tennis courts and an outdoor basketball court. Fountain City Ballfields has six baseball/softball fields, one tee-ball field and four tennis courts. Cool Sports is a facility with one hockey rink, an indoor soccer field and one flag football field. The Dr. E.V, Davidson Community Center has a full indoor basketball/volleyball court, an indoor pool and a kitchen.
Tennessee may be best known for its music, but sports teams know it’s also a great place to play baseball, football, basketball and other competitive games.
