It’s that time of the year again, and amateurs from across the state of Iowa will be in and around town for the 18th annual Iowa Summer Games.

Kevin Bourke, director of sports and operations for the Iowa Sports Foundation, said when they started this event in August of 1987, he never dreamed they would have the number of sports or participating athletes they do today.

“We had a record number of more than 7,000 athletes that first year,” he said. “That was a record across the country. I never dreamed we’d have more than 50 sports in two weekends with more than 17,000 athletes.”

Bourke said that number is typical for the Summer Games, but he hopes to hit at least 18,000. He said they usually end up with another 1,000 that sign up the weekend of the games.

“Just looking at our numbers right now, we are ahead of pace by a thousand athletes from last year,” Bourke said. “I don’t know if we’ll set a record, but it should be a great year. We don’t set a target number, but we try to beat the number from the previous year. It’s tough because you don’t know what to expect from year to year.”

Erin Cottington, communications and media relations coordinator, said this is her first summer with the Iowa Games and she is looking forward to this weekend.

“It’s great to see many people excited about athletics,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to traveling to all the different venues and watching people young and old competing.”

Jim Hallihan, executive director, said he is glad there is no rain forecasted and would rather have the heat than the rain.

The Iowa Sports Foundation was created in 1986 as a non-profit entity with the hope of promoting amateur sports within the state. The Winter and Summer Games are the two most notable events they host.

There are three new sports added to the list for this year’s Summer Games, including dodgeball, a strongman competition and a high school passing tournament.

“We are constantly adding sports and changing them,” he said. “We are always looking to add new and exciting sports to the games.”

Bourke said the planning for the games is a year-round project. He said the games are just one of the many events they hold throughout the year.

“This is a big undertaking,” he said. “Once the ball gets rolling, it’s not going to stop.”

The Foundation holds a three-year agreement with Iowa State and Ames to hold the Summer Games here, and Bourke said the current agreement ends at the end of this year and a new agreement is already in the works. Other cities around Ames will be hosting events as well.

“They open their arms to having the games in their cities,” he said.

Bourke said there is no cost for using the facilities, but the Foundation does pay the costs the town incurs with hosting sports.

“If we had to pay rent to use the facilities then we’d never be able to do this,” he said.

Spectators are encouraged and appreciated.

“There’s such a wide variety of sports,” Erin said. “People that aren’t familiar can go and see these different sports.”