Off and Walking

The Valero Go!Kids Challenge™ is off and walking! We are one “step” closer to making San Antonio a more fit place to raise our children. Please read the stories below about our very successful kickoff last week and the other initiatives associated with this walking program for 165,000 area elementary school students.

None of this would be possible without the tremendous support of our corporate partners Valero Energy Corporation, Subway, Coca-Cola, Methodist Children’s Hospital, Mission Pharmacal, SBC, IBC Bank, Oak Farms Dairy, Security Service Federal Credit Union, esd & associates, Creative Link, Velocity Sports Performance, Frost Bank, DPT Laboratories, Freeman Decorating, Sports Direct Source, Inc., and San Antonio Spurs Sports and Entertainment.

The program’s success is also attributed to the 18 area school districts that have been true allies in the development and growth of the program, now in its THIRD year! It would be an injustice to point to just one district in terms of the most successful program as so many of the districts have committed time, resources and personnel to make this all possible.

THANKS to all of you!

Go!Kids!!



Dr. Susan Blackwood
Executive Director

Ready, Set, Go!Kids!!

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, the San Antonio Sports Foundation’s 2005 Valero Go!Kids Challenge™ kicked off officially at Sun Valley Elementary in the Southwest ISD. Hundreds of kindergarteners through fifth graders, representing 165,000 children from 262 participating area elementary schools, took their first steps in the 11-week walking program that educates children about the importance of routine exercise and proper nutrition and helps fight childhood obesity.

Participants are motivated to walk one-half mile a day, log their miles in a Go!Kids journal or online at GoKidsChallenge.com and earn healthy rewards from Valero and Diamond Shamrock Corner Stores and Subway restaurants. At the end of the program, each child will have finished a marathon 26.2 miles, and will be invited to attend the Subway Victory Lap Celebration on Dec. 4 at the Alamodome where they’ll receive finishers’ medals and t-shirts.

Senator Jeff Wentworth and Eric Alva help kick off the 2005 Valero Go!Kids Challenge.

The students at Sun Valley Elementary were joined in their inaugural walk by Senator Jeff Wentworth, County Commissioner Chico Rodriguez and City Councilman Roger Flores. Also on hand were the program’s honorary chairman, Dr. J. Fernando Triana, Valero Energy’s Pete Linton and many officials from other participating school districts. Valero Go!Kids Challenge sponsors were on hand, including Velocity Sports Performance whose fitness team lead the kids in a warm up, and Sports Direct Source, Inc. which is providing gym equipment as student and teacher incentives, and Coca-Cola which provided Dasani water for everyone.

Former U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who lost his leg in the early days of the ground war in Iraq and is a graduate of Southwest High School, inspired the children with his tale of courage and determination.

Special thanks are due to the officials of the Southwest ISD and Sun Valley Elementary who generously shared their campus with the Sports Foundation for this momentous occasion. They include Superintendent Dr. Velma Villegas, Principal Pete Benavides, Victoria Gaeta, Dr. Jada Pitman, Sharon Woldhagen and many others.

Get Out! Get Going! Log On!

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Valero Go!Kids Challenge™ this year is the new, interactive Web site GoKidsChallenge.com. Funded by a grant from the SBC Foundation and designed by the very talented team at esd & associates, the Web site has a step-by-step process to follow San Antonio kids through every aspect of the program.

Children and their parents are able to track their progress and log-in daily to input their number of miles walked—exactly as they would on paper. In addition, kids can get the latest Go!Kids news, submit their success stories, take fun fitness and nutrition quizzes and receive printable coupons as their rewards for walking every six miles.

Teachers will have the ability to track their school’s progress against other participating schools and districts through the site’s unique “tracker.” This element provides teachers with a real-time tracking capability and breeds new life into classroom participation for students and families who otherwise may not have participated. It also allows the Sports Foundation to evaluate program participation as a whole and make decisions about where to increase awareness efforts.

“Erik Simpson and his team at esd & associates created an innovative, interactive first for the Sports Foundation,” said Dr. Susan Blackwood, executive director of the Sports Foundation. “They are bringing us another step closer to our goal of increasing participation and awareness in the program.”

Jump Higher, Walk & Run Faster

Velocity Sports Performance is adding another dimension to the Valero Go!Kids Challenge™ by teaching children how to get the most out of their daily exercise. The speed and agility training specialists are taking their show on the road to participating schools. Velocity fitness professionals visit physical education classes to promote participation in the Valero Go!Kids Challenge™ and teach techniques that will allow children to get more out of their physical activities and improve their safety from injury. The children think it’s just plain fun!

“We enjoy sharing our expertise with youngsters we might never see in our training facility,” said Brent McDonald, Velocity Sports Performance director of marketing and a former college athlete. “By learning good agility and strength techniques, they’ll get more out of their fitness activities, whether that’s walking in the Valero Go!Kids Challenge™ or participating in organized sports.”

Saints Tickets Still Available

Tickets are still available for the three New Orleans Saints games scheduled to play in the Alamodome on Oct. 2, Oct. 16 and Dec. 24.

If you’d like tickets to see NFL regular-season football in the Alamodome, your options are:

• Online -- Visit Ticketmaster.com.
• Phone -- Call Ticketmaster at 800-877-0898 or the Saints' Alamodome Ticket Office at 210-208-9520.
• In Person -- Alamodome Box Office
  

Let Thousands of Volleyball Fans See Your Name in Print

The San Antonio Sports Foundation, UTSA, and the City of San Antonio, and will play host to this year’s NCAA® Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Dec. 15 & 17 in the Alamodome. Not only will this be the 25th anniversary of the Championship, but also the first time it will be played in a dome facility!

The San Antonio Sports Foundation is currently seeking advertising from our local business supporters for the Official NCAA Volleyball Championship Game Program. Area businesses can benefit from the level of publicity San Antonio receives during such high profile NCAA Championship tournaments.

Official NCAA Souvenir Programs are second to none when it comes to quality, content, and readership satisfaction. NCAA Championship Game Programs boast one of the highest sell-through rates of any similar sports publication in the country!

NCAA Volleyball Championship Programs will be available to fans as they enter the Alamodome and will be sold throughout the venue during both NCAA Championship sessions. Special discount combination packages are also available for the upcoming NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional March 25 – 28. Nowhere else can advertisers find this type of exposure at an affordable rate!

For more information on how to be on this Championship team of advertisers for this fantastic event, contact Scott Melott at the San Antonio Sports Foundation (210-820-2105 or smelott@sanantoniosports.org) today.

Calling all Volleyball Volunteers

The San Antonio Sports Foundation is currently recruiting volunteers for the 2005 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. Volunteers will be needed Dec. 14-17. Volunteer activities include airport welcome, command center, phone bank, YES clinics, hotel welcome & information, transportation, game day giveaway, open practice and autograph sessions.

Volunteers must work a minimum of two shifts, be 18 or older and attend an orientation on Dec. 8. If interested, contact Donna Browne, Sports Foundation volunteer coordinator at 210-820-2191 or dbrowne@sanantoniosports.org or you can download an NCAA application on the event website at www.saloc.org.

Buy Your Championship Tickets Today And Get A Shirt!

Great lower level all-session tickets are still available for the 2005 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship by visiting www.saloc.org. Tickets are just $46 and for groups of ten or more; you will receive an official Championship t-shirt for each pass.

Goaaaaal!

The Sports Foundation will host the Big 12 Women’s Soccer Championship for the ninth year on Nov. 2, 4 and 6 at Blossom Soccer Stadium.

We invite the entire San Antonio soccer community to take advantage of a special team ticket package offer.

If you purchase your team package by Oct. 15, you’ll pay just $75 for 20 tickets to one day’s competition. After Oct. 15, the team package will cost $89.

Give your whole team the opportunity to see some of the nation’s best college soccer players in action. To purchase your team ticket package click here or call the Sports Foundation at 210-820-2100.

SASF Golf Classic at the Dominion

December 12, 2005
Dominion Country Club
10:30 a.m. Shotgun start

Save the date and reserve your team today in the 2005 SASF Golf Classic. This year’s tournament is set for 10:30 a.m. on December 12th at the Dominion Country Club. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Sports Foundation’s youth initiatives – Dreams for Youth and the Valero Go!Kids Challenge.

You can tee-off your support today by signing up as a sponsor. Sponsorship levels begin at $1,250. CLICK HERE for a detailed list of levels and benefits. For questions or more information contact Elena Stout at 210-820-2127 or estout@sanantoniosports.org.

Tennis

The San Antonio Sports Foundation’s Dreams for Youth program is offering tennis lessons beginning Oct. 3. Children will learn the fundamentals of tennis from Coach Rob Coles twice a week at Fairchild Center Tennis Courts, 1214 E. Crockett. The cost is $35 for a five-week session (two one-hour lessons a week) and equipment is provided. Classes are offered for children ages 3-6, 6-11, and 11-15. To register, contact Alma Martinez Striker at 210-820-2113.

Club Volleyball

The Dreams for Youth club volleyball program is now taking registrations for girls ages 9-17. Dreams for Youth club volleyball is different from other clubs around the city. There are no tryouts and each player is placed according to her ability. Practice begins Oct. 30. The season runs from December through May.

For more information, contact Alma Martinez-Striker, director of Dreams for Youth at 820-2113, Sharon Martinez at 820-2116, or Joe Herrera, head coach, at 875-8466.

Team Handball - A New Sport is Coming to San Antonio!

USA Team Handball and the Sports Foundation will conduct a workshop to train coaches in the exciting sport of team handball this Saturday, Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Poe Middle School, 814 Aransas Ave.

Team Handball combines the elements of soccer and basketball, as six players move the ball down a floor that is larger than a basketball court and try to score by throwing the ball past a goalkeeper into the net. It has been an Olympic sport since 1972.

After the training, the sport will be offered by the Sports Foundation's Dreams for Youth Program to children in Edgewood ISD’s After School All Stars program. It will also be offered through San Antonio ISD’s physical education classes. Team handball is a fun, group sport that involves a lot of students in vigorous physical activity, which will help fight obesity and diabetes. For more information, contact Alma Striker at astriker@sanantoniosports.org or 210-820-2113.

OUR TEAM – That means YOU!

As you can see, the Sports Foundation has a very busy Fall 2005. The support of our friends is at its most critical this time of year. If you are not already a corporate or individual member of the San Antonio Sports Foundation, please become one today.

The benefits of membership are many, including the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting an organization that delivers wonderful sports and fitness programs for our community’s youth and premier amateur athletic events that generate millions of dollars for our city’s economy.

The Sports Foundation needs you now. Just click here for complete details and become one of our Champions today!

Contact Elena Stout at 210-820-2127 or estout@sanantoniosports.org for more information.

Champions Club
Individual Members at $1,000+

Gary & Shelia Arthur; Sam Barshop; Ed Benninger; Susan Blackwood; June Bratcher; Tim Brierty; Howard Burris; Jim Callaway; Cassandra Carr; James Doyle; Jim Dublin; Charlie Ebrom; Dr. Frank Fichtel; Larry Franklin; Pat & Kelley Frost; Dr. Jamie Garza; Claud Gilmer; William Greehey; Joe Guinn; Bill & Marcia Hanson; Scott Hefner; Scott Helbing; George C. Hixon; Peter Holt; Steve Isom; Stacey Johnson; Michael Jourdan; Greg & Leigh Ann King; Michael Lynd; Lowry Mays; Red McCombs; James Mickey; Phil Miner; Tom Reardon; Marty Roos; Dr. David Schmidt; Dr. Earl Smith; Steve Souter; Michael G. Stoltz; Neill Walsdorf, Jr.; Carri Wells; Jeff Wentworth; Paul Young

Corporate Champions

Presenting Champions

City of San Antonio; SBC Communications Inc.

$50,000

Creative Link; IKON Office Solutions; San Antonio Express-News; Valero Energy Corporation

$20,000

Advantage Rent-A-Car; Pepsi Bottling Group; San Antonio Coca-Cola Bottling Co; San Antonio Spurs; Whataburger, Inc.

$10,000

Budget Car & Truck Rental; Cingular Wireless; Langley & Banack; Maverick Video Production; NuMedia: Oak Farms Dairy; Paladin IT Services; Methodist Children's Hospital; Spectrum Health Clubs; Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio, The Dominion Country Club

$5,000

George Becknell; Bender & Associates; The Benninger Family Trust; BudCo., Inc.; The CE Group - Communication & Events; ChapmanSchewe Benefits Consulting; Comet Neon Advertising; Core-Mark International, Inc.; The Darmstetter Company; Frost Bank; H-E-B Grocery Company; Hertz Corporation; Humana; JP Morgan Chase; KPMG; Merrill Lynch; Methodist Healthcare System; Michael Imbimbo, Inc.; Miner Corporation; PacifiCare; The Plaza Club; Nathaniel Sanderson, M.D.; Security Service Federal Credit Union; Soccer Sports Complex; Sterling Bank; Sterling Foods, Inc.; Jon Turner; Velocity Sports Performance; Wells Fargo Bank; Zachry Hospitality, Inc.

$2,500

Allegra Print & Imaging; Bank of America; Broadway Bank; Carneiro, Chummney & Co.; C.C. Creations; Catering by Don Strange; Colonial Supplemental Insurance; Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated; Ear Medical Group; Ernst & Young; FIRSTMARK Credit Union; First Rate Investment Systems; Fintan Technologies; Flowers Bakeries; Fulbright & Jaworski; GLI Distributing; Halo Distributing; Host/Chelsea Joint Venture of San Antonio; Initial Security; Dr. Susan Marenda-King; Marriott Plaza San Antonio; Marriott Rivercenter/Riverwalk; Mission Pharmacal; Pape-Dawson Consulting Engineers, Inc.; SpawGlass Contractors, Inc.; Tesoro Petroleum Companies; Walton Signage; Yantis Company

Grants/Foundations

The Alfred S. Gage Foundation, Bexar County Health & Human Services CDBG; Bexar County Women's Bar Foundation; Brown Foundation; Charity Ball Foundation; Coleman Foundation; Criminal Justice Division JJDP Grant; Criminal Justice Division Safe and Drug Free Schools Grant; GAC Halff Foundation; Light Foundation; Myra Stafford Pryor Charitable Trust; The Sequor Foundation; David & Betty Sachs Foundation; Smith Barney; Women’s Sports Foundation

Founding Sponsors

City of San Antonio; H-E-B; USAA Foundation, A Charitable Trust; Valero Energy Corporation