A new community-based sports program - Kids Into Disc Sports (KIDS) - is launching in June to encourage more kids to be active in the Portland area.
Portland, OR (PRWEB) April 2, 2004 -- A new community-based sports program - Kids Into Disc Sports (KIDS) - is launching in June to encourage more kids to be active in the Portland area.
Local sports group, Northwest Disc Golf, has teamed up with the Portland Boys and Girls Clubs, supported by adidas, to provide the KIDS program.
KIDS consists of six hands-on clinics teaching the fundamentals and etiquette of disc golf to instill a sense of competence and participation in the sport amongst youth.
Research shows that in order to feel good about being physically active there has to be some degree of success. Disc golf promotes success in a fun, low impact environment" said Dan Denny, a representative of Northwest Disc Golf.
Disc golf can be played by anyone from school age to old age making it one of the most accessible lifetime fitness sports. It is also one of the fastest growing sports across the nation, with the number of courses in the Portland-metro area now nearing 20. Because disc golf is so easy to learn, no one is excluded, and with most of the courses located within public parks, and a basic disc available for a few dollars, it is also one of the most affordable.
adidas is proud to continue its support of the Portland Boys and Girls Clubs by helping to support the KIDS program," said Patty Goffe, Community Relations Manager, adidas America. Through KIDS, we hope to inspire youth to be more physically active, so that they are healthier, happier and more successful."
NW Disc Golf (www.nwdiscgolf.com) is a non-profit, grass roots organization dedicated to the mission of battling cancer, enhancing local livability, and promoting the sport of disc golf. The organization hosts three, Professional Disc Golf Association (www.pdga.com) sanctioned disc golf tournaments and a Disc Recycling Program, where donated discs are collected through strategic drop boxes and recycled to participating Portland area Boys and Girls Clubs.
Since 1947, Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland (www.bgclubportland.org) has been providing thousands of young people throughout the Portland metro area with affordable, high-quality after-school and summer programs designed to help them develop the qualities needed to become responsible citizens and leaders. The Clubs offer kids what they want the most: safe, clean, fun places to go when theyre not in school; caring adults who respect and guide them; and challenging programs that teach them life skills and keep them engaged in productive activities. Over 8,000 boys and girls between ages 6-18 were served last year.
Fact Sheet:
Physical Activity and our Nation's Youth
- Children engaged in daily physical education show superior motor fitness, academic performance and attitude toward school as compared to their counterparts who do not participate in daily physical education (1996 Pollatschek and Hagen).
- The percentage of overweight young Americans has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Fourteen percent of children aged six to 11 are overweight; 12% of those aged 12 to 17 are overweight. Source: National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).
- Kids born today are expected to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents due to inactivity and diet (Obesity Week, Feb 3, 2002: v2, #5).
- Poor diets linked with lack of exercise are the cause of 14% of all deaths in America, second only to tobacco (about 18%), according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1993.
|
