CEDAR RAPIDS - Nine years ago, Shawna Hoover and the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena got their skating start. Hoover's mom has been on the sidelines the entire time watching both grow.

Hoover says, "She comes to all my competitions and watches me skate and is my big support system."

That support is about to swell as her mom prepares to chair the U.S. Figure Skating Synchronized Skating Qualifying Competition. The event will usher in her daughter and the arena's tenth anniversary next January.

Her mom Tammie says, "We've been told many times when we've hosted regionals here that our facility is perfect for this competition."

The only Cedar Rapids sporting event to rival is the annual state girls volleyball tournament. But the skating event will bring in almost as much money with about 20,000 fewer visitors.

Mary Lee Malmberg from the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau says, "For this event, we're looking at 37 states that will be sending teams, so that does make a difference."

Malmberg adds that those teams should spend about $1.3 million during their stay here. As Hoover's team, the Eastern Iowa Figure Skating Club, prepares to host all of those people, there's still a bigger goal in sight.

She says, "We're just going to go out there and do our best and hopefully our best is good enough."

Her mom hopes others see Cedar Rapids the same way. In today's economy, the city can't afford to let an opportunity like this slide by.

The hotel industry could see the biggest boost, if everything goes well.
When this event came to Franklin, Tennessee, which is around Cedar Rapids' size, visitors booked 4,000 hotel room nights.

The event will be January 28 - 30, 2010, at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. For more information, check out the Eastern Iowa Figure Skating Club's web site.