CLEVELAND -- The Continental Cup Youth International Soccer Tournament is in town this weekend, bringing teams from around the globe to compete.

The games will be held at John Carroll University and Lost Nations Sports Park, bringing 97 teams, 27 of them from places such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Canada and Kenya.

The 1,500 players range in age from 9 to 19 and will be competing Thursday through Sunday.

Opening ceremonies for the tournament will take place at John Carroll's Don Shula Stadium at 8 p.m. Thursday.

The tournament has only been in existence for three years but is growing rapidly.

For example, last year the cup generated about 300 hotel room stays, and this year the number has ballooned to 2,200.

The overall economic impact of the weekend's event for northeast Ohio is expected to be about $3 million.