Super Bowl Events In Region 1

As the Super Bowl approaches it creates much excitement in many peoples’ lives…….Sports World included.  It is a busy time for us as many of our pros are invited to speak at Super Bowl events and parties.  In Region 1 we have scheduled outreaches with pros speaking in area schools both immediately before and also after the Super Bowl in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina.  One of these outreaches is sponsored by a local business that has a heart to provide the young people in their area a positive role model with a positive message of “You’re not born a winner.  You’re not born a loser.  You’re born a chooser! The pro shares his personal life experiences with students, helping them to recognize the consequences of their choices while challenging them with the Message of Hope.

If you would be interested in bringing a Sports World pro into your area, please contact me directly.”

Spring Semester

So far this semester we have spoken to 3,430 students in 7 assemblies! Sports World Pro Lee Rouson had the privilege to impact those 3,430 students in a positive way. In today’s world there are many different ways that students can be distracted or influenced to make choices that can impact their lives in a negative way. Our Pro’s want to drive home the lesson that the choices they make today can affect their future in either a positive or negative way and to encourage them to make decisions that are right for them despite what their peers may say or think.

We are excited to have Ken Johnson speaking in Travelers Rest, SC and Tim Lester speaking to students in Dunwoody, GA this upcoming week! If you would like to see if a Pro is coming to your area check out our Upcoming Events page!

For more information about Sports World or for information on how to bring a Pro to your school email us at info@sportsworld.org.

Update in Midwest Region

We had a great outreach in North West Iowa this Fall led by our Team Captain Larry Pederson.  We were able to go to several new towns and schools where Rich Garza shared not only his position that offensive linemen were the best looking guys in school, but that the students listening to his message could be successes in life by making the right choices.

Thanks also go out to Laurie Simington and Good News Community Church in Okoboji, IA, who hosted a large gathering of church youth groups and FCA huddles one evening, with a great set of songs from their teen worship band and a powerful message from Rich. Thanks Larry and team!

Region 6 Highlights of 2011

Santa Maria, CA

This is a city of about 100,000 that we have had difficulty getting funding for Outreaches but the need and appreciation for being there is very high.  My Team Captain, Shane Keeling, has done what he could even though he just went through a divorce and changed his occupation from minister to restaurant owner. Shane has always done a great job of getting us in front of the city through the news paper. See the following comment from one of the teachers and the news paper article.

Importance to Teacher Dory Rodgers:

Nicole Grady, my Associate, received a call from Dory Rodgers, Teacher, that attended an assembly at Tommie Kunst Junior High School in Santa Maria. She was so impressed by the impact of the talk from Michael Cobb it literally changed the behavior of her class. She wanted to know if we could continue to touch her academically at risk group of students, with a speaker like Mr. Cobb more regularly. She just didn’t want to lose that impact and it just be left as a memory.    [Tommie Kunst Junior High School, Dory Rodgers (English teacher), 805-361-5832, drodgers@smbsd.net]

 

Video & article from Santa Maria Times:

Relatehttp://santamariatimes.com/news/local/education/former-nfl-player-motivates-students/article_19a0e5b8-1b27-11e1-b2e1-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=videod Video

 

Former NFL tight end Michael Cobb speaks Tuesday to students at Adam Elementary School about the importance of morals, values, education and proper decision making.

Len Wood/Staff

Adam Elementary students struggled to imagine how former NFL tight end Michael Cobb could ever have been bullied as a kid. At 6-foot-5 and more than 200 pounds, Cobb towered above the fifth- and sixth-grade students gathered Tuesday in the cafeteria of the Santa Maria school.  Not exactly an easy target for the typical bully. “I wasn’t always big, tough,” Cobb said, recalling a time in fourth grade when he tried running home after school to avoid being beaten up. The experience, which ended with Cobb getting into his first and final fight, taught him that sometimes people must face their fears to overcome a tricky situation.

“Drugs and alcohol are chasing every one of you,” said Cobb, who has traveled the country for 27 years as a motivational speaker for Sports World. “Ladies and gentleman, it’s going to take courage.  “Don’t just say ‘no’. Say never. You’ve got to be really careful who you listen to.”  Cobb told stories of life growing up in Akron, Ohio, with his mother and a stepfather he has learned to treat with the utmost respect after his biological father left Cobb at a young age.

While he spoke, students held onto Cobb’s playing card that detailed his career being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1977, playing for the Chicago Bears from 1977 to 1981, and playing for the Michigan Panthers in the former United States Football League during the 1983 and 1984 seasons.

Students chanted or repeated Cobb’s sayings on cue, including “hard head and a stubborn heart.” Football is cool, he said, but the point of him leading three assemblies for third- through sixth-graders at Adam on Tuesday was to reiterate everything kids have already heard about the value of education, good decision-making and trustworthy friends.

“Because you’ve heard it does not necessarily mean you’ll act on it,” Cobb said. “You’ve got to stop and listen to the right voices.” He also encouraged kids to hug their parents, and to listen to them and their teachers because they know what they’re talking about.

Sixth-grader Bernard Olivares joined Cobb at the front of the cafeteria to explain that a commitment is a promise to oneself. Afterward, Bernard said he enjoyed Cobb’s stories because they help teach people to make better life choices.

Copyright 2012 Santa Maria Times. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

San Carlos, AZ

Dennis Norton has been working with the Indian Tribes in eastern Arizona and New Mexico to encourage the students to make better decisions. In the past two years approximately 25 students have committed suicide in Thoreau, NM a town of less than 2,000 people.  Dennis has gone out of his way to see every Pro we got to Gallup or Grants, NM had an opportunity to speak to students in this city.

In his testimony on suicide prevention among Native American youth before the Indian Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate in 2005, then U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona stated:

The suicide rate for 5- to 14-year-olds is 2.6 times higher than the national average.
The suicide rate for youth age 15 to 24 years is 3.5 times the national average.
Young people age 15 to 24 make up 40% of all suicides in “Indian Country.
There are many more nonfatal injuries due to suicidal behavior than there are suicides.
It is estimated that there are 13 nonfatal events for every fatality. (Carmona, 2005)

The national statistics gain impact when examined on a smaller scale.

In Thoreau, New Mexico, a community of 2,100 people on the Navajo Nation, which spans part of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, lost six children to suicide over a 2-month period beginning in April of 2010. (“Suicides Put Spotlight,” 2010)

In the 4,500-member Mescalero Apache Nation, also in New Mexico, six young people committed suicide in a 5-month period at the start of the 2009-2010 school year (Daly, 2010).

In 2009, 11 children from the Standing Rock Lakota Reservation of North and South Dakota completed suicide, prompting U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to sponsor 7th Generation Promise: Indian Youth Suicide Prevention Act of 2009 (S. 1635). In the text of the bill, Senator Dorgan notes that the suicide rates for Native Americans age 15 to 24, compared with other racial groups, are as follows:

For males, the suicide rate is up to 4 times greater.
For females, it is up to 11 times greater.
Females attempt suicide 2 to 3 times more often than males. (Dorgan, 2009)

Dr. Simms from the San Carlos, AZ Wellness Center applied for a grant to help with this academic problem.  She has agreed to work with Sports World because of the good we have been doing in the local schools.

Funding in this area has been low until now.  We are excited that San Carlos will have a fully funded Outreach this year.  I appreciate that Dennis Norton has persisted to getting our Pros in front of the Apache students so Dr. Simms and other leaders could observe the value for their students.

 

Spring Outreaches for Region 6

Date City Pro

28-Feb

Los Cruces, NM Michael Cobb

1

6-Mar

Bakersfield, CA Tim Lester

2

20-Mar

San Diego, CA Rich Garza

3

27-Mar

Phoenix Don McNeal

4

27-Mar

San Carlos Rich Garza

5

17-Apr

Mira Mesa, CA Charity Butler

6

24-Apr

Ventura, CA Charity Butler

7

1-May

Grants, NM Don McNeal

8

8-May

Stockton, CA Ken Johnson

9

TBA

Chino, CA area Leah Amico

10

Sharing Hope

A 9th grade girl wrote last fall: “My parents got a divorce, and I’m on antidepressants I struggle in school, and at home.  Life isn’t easy. . . I’m struggling”.  This young lady needed to hear that there is HOPE and she is not alone.  Sports World Pro Athletes offer that Hope and help to the students every day!

I get phone calls from business people AND school personnel asking to have a pro come to their area and share with the students that they are “Not born winners, and not born losers but they are born choosers!”  Young people today are going to make choices that they are going to have to live with the rest of their lives.  We want to be proactive and help them to understand BEFORE they make mistakes, that every choice they make today will have an effect on their lives tomorrow.  Please call me today!  I will be happy to work with you and bring a former pro athlete to your area.  Together we can help to make a real difference in the lives of young people, just like the 9th grade girl who shared on her card, today!

 

Spring Outreach Season

This upcoming Spring outreach season is in full swing, as well as final details being put together.  I have been approached by a number of folks who desire to have one of our Pro Staff speak to students in their area.  A couple of School personnel contacted me about having a pro speak to their entire student body. . . they felt the need to be “pro active” regarding their students and the weekend “party” scene going on.  They want a Pro to come and talk about the dangers of social drinking and drugging BEFORE a disaster happens in the community.  The reason they are so very concerned? . . . the parents of these kids don’t see anything wrong with the weekend partying the kids do. . . and they are afraid that a child is going to have to die before the parents recognize the danger of their laissez faire attitudes.

Sports World Pros talk to the young people about making the right choices in life. . . they know that the students are “Not born winners, and not born losers; but they ARE born choosers!”  Contact me today to have a former Pro athlete speak to your students about making the right choices in life!

End of Fall Semester

We are now at the end of our fall semester kickoff and what a great fall it was! We had new areas on our fall schedule and we were so well received. “Victory Parties” in Newark Ohio and in Putnam, WV. Allowed a door for new contacts and greater area support. At the Putnam, WV outreach we were in front of 5,700 students with a great come back event. Great job Putnam!

Our spring schedule is filling up and we look forward to a fantastic semester! Below is a spring schedule of outreaches so far in region 4. If we are near your area and if you would like to see an assembly or  have us in your area for an outreach please call.

March

13-15 OVAC-Ohio Valley Athletic Conference

27-29 OVAC

24-27 Louisville, Kentucky

April

3-5 Columbus, Ohio

10-12 Cincinnati, Ohio

17-19 Mansfield, Ohio

24-26 Tompkinsville, Kentucky

24-26 Benton Harbor, Michigan

24-26 Muskegon, Michigan

May

1-3 Dayton, Ohio

PENDING DATES 
Ironton, Ohio
Norwalk, Ohio
Lima, Ohio
Parkersburg, Wv

Fall 2011 Outreach Schedule

September

  13-15 Youngstown, OH
  20-22 OVAC, OH

October

  4-6 OVAC, OH
  9-13 Columbus, OH
  18-20 OVAC, OH
  25-27 Pikeville, KY
  25-27 Louisville, KY

November

  1-3 Waverly, OH
  1-3 Mansfield, OH
  7-9 Clarksburg, WV
  8-10 Cleveland, OH
  15-17 Apple Creek, OH
  29- Dec 1 OVAC, OH

December

  6-8 Newark, OH
  13-15 Putnam Co., WV

VIP Membership

Sports World has recently launched a new way to support Sports World and help fulfill our mission of helping young people make positive choices through the VIP Membership Program. Did you know that every 35 seconds a child is abused or neglected; Every 4 minutes a child is arrested for a drug offense; Every 3 hours a child or teen is killed by gunfire? Statistics like this has prompted urgency for us to make Sports World’s presence known. In some cases a Sports World Pro has arrived at a school in the nic of time. One student wrote, “To day you helped me to find out what my purpose is in life. I felt like I didn’t matter and I was useless, but it’s because I didn’t have any direction. Peers make it so hard but today was great. Thanks!” The VIP Membership is set up to increase awareness of Sports World, allow new members to get involved, and help bring Pro’s to more schools (Outreaches) making a positive difference in more children’s lives, just like this young student!

The VIP Membership Program gives others the opportunity to be a part of an Outreach in four ways, support through payments of annual dues of $100.00, consider involvement in local Sports World Events, and tell others about Sports World.

VIP Membership includes: Eligible to attend a National Sports World Conference each year beginning in 2012, hard plastic VIP State Chapter Membership card with members name and date of enrollment, and receipt of Sports World Newsletters and email.

The goal of the VIP Membership it to recruit and include 100 members in as many different states possible for their support of the Outreaches.

If you would like to get involved contact Jean Sample by email at jsample@sportsworld.org or by phone 352-732-5700.

Student Outreach

We receive hundreds of comment cards from students after each Outreach. Last week things went a little differently than normal. After an assembly at one school a student approached the Pro Speaker and handed him a container with marijuana in it. The student told the Pro Speaker that he was done with it. The Pro had the opportunity to mentor the student and discuss further how the positive choice he just made will positively affect his life. Its stories like this that depict what it is we do. Our mission is to send former professional athletes to share their personal life experiences with students, helping them to recognize the consequences of their choices while challenging them with the Message of Hope. The bravery of this young student to make such a positive choice despite what his peers may think is the whole reason we are here doing what we do.

Many students are facing tough decisions like this young student. They need a role model to help give them the confidence to make the positive decisions even if their peers are not. We are now in the process of scheduling Outreaches for the Spring Semester. If you are interested and would like more information on how to bring a Pro to your school or community contact us by email at info@sportsworld.org or by phone toll free 1-800-832-6546.