FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Hanley
Mobile: 614.395.8210
Email: Media@nine13sports.org
Nine13sports Fall Programs Launched
Indianapolis, IN ─ August 22, 2012 ─ This week Nine13sports launches a new six-week semester of program curriculum in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Public Schools and the Paramount School of Excellence.
The programs are designed to get kids active by combining the bicycle with technology and creating a fun and interactive exercise experience. These sessions not only challenge the students to physically burn calories, but also encourage them to learn about the important role everyday activity plays in their lives and the community. Nine13sports is providing its educational programs to over 250 4th to 8th grade students each week during the current semester.
Operations Director for Nine13sports, Ken Nowakowski, commented, “Nine13sports is overjoyed to be scheduled at its full capacity while working with three essential community partners. Since June we have been contacted by many organizations seeking to implement our effective youth exercise programs. We appreciate the widespread popularity our programs are experiencing as a direct result of the generous recognition we have received within the community. Requests for our programs have been so overwhelming that, after this semester, Nine13sports will adjust its program schedule to include one program day each week designed in a larger format event. The event programs will be provided at a variety of schools and allow Nine13sports to leave a larger footprint within the Central Indiana market. This new format ensures that our programs can be utilized as a flexible community resource one day each week while we continue to provide our standard semester programming at other facilities two days per week.”
The obesity rates in Indiana have taken center stage in the media during recent weeks. Earlier in August, the Indianapolis Star reported on the state-by-state health study by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This study ranked Indiana as the eighth most obese state, tied with South Carolina, in the country. Nine13sports’ efforts are directly aimed at reducing these statistics. The Nine13sports’ programs encourage kids to be more physically active, demonstrate that being active can be fun and engaging, and foster the belief that physical activity should be the childhood norm and not the exception.
Nine13sports is excited to provide its programs to Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) for the first time, and will be serving the Merle Sidener Gifted Academy. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis (BGCI), for whom Nine13sports provided over 1,500 youth interactions during the BGCI 2012 summer camps, asked Nine13sports to join their afterschool program at George Buck Elementary School. The Paramount School of Excellence is also an exciting new partner, one who reached out to Nine13sports after its positive media coverage in early August.
John Singleton, Business Operations Director of Nine13sports, added, “We have had an outstanding relationship with BGCI and are honored they asked us to join them at a venue new to us. In June when we announced the IPS relationship, we hoped it would not be limited to just one venue and were thrilled at the opportunity to work with Merle Sidener Gifted Academy this session and have been requested for another IPS school for our next session beginning in October. The Paramount School of Excellence (PSOE) contacted us just as we were making decisions to identify a new charter school partner. After a tour of their facility and meeting their staff, we knew PSOE is a perfect match as a new community partner. The current Nine13sports’ schedule of semester programs highlights our diversity in successfully working with a public school system, a storied youth organization and a charter school.”
About Nine13sports:
Indy Velo (dba Nine13sports) is a Central Indiana 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes health, wellness and exercise for local youth between the ages of 8 and 18, using bicycling as the gateway. We have created a unique program in which we have integrated the traditional bicycle with technology to provide a turnkey product for youth programs, schools and other community organizations at no cost to them. In addition to individual betterment of health and fitness, our programs promote community, teamwork and mutual respect for one another. Our vision is to use the art and sport of cycling to teach and positively influence our participants and leave a lasting impact. For additional information please visit www.nine13sports.org or email info@nine13sports.org.
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