Action Sports

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Blog Name:	Action Sports
Url:	http://www.actionsportsassociation.us
Language:	English
Topics:	sports, skateboarding, surfing
Description:	I take pleasure in asking for support for the development of the American Non-for Profit organization Action Sports Association that centers on Increasing awareness, education, promoting activities and preserving awareness of the Emerging New Industry Action Sports. The organization's focus is to raise awareness among all government levels, education systems, corporate entities, local groups and individuals in hopes of generating funding for action sports-related infrastructure, and educational developments, along with promoting events to come to the Future Action Sports East Coast Epic Center. Action Sports Associations main goal is to spark the growth of the Action Sports Industry on the East Coast, beginning in New Jersey, and Expanding Across America, while promoting its health benefits, psychological, youth-oriented, educational, environmental, and socio-economic benefits as a Non-profit organization focused on the Greater good of the community. The Action Sports Association seeks funding, and support for the implementation of said sports into recreation/physical education classes, park/plaza development, league formations, and events. Your contributions, and support will address the changing outlook of youth sports, from traditional to action sports, provide youth with safe avenues to participate in these sports, and facilitate the health care programs of promotion of "Healthy Lifelong Lifestyle Activities & Exercise Habits", within today's youth in an environmental smart growth developmental plan of updating parks in the town, county, state parks systems. The Action Sports Association brings the popularity and growth of action sports found on the West Coast to the entire Country. One of the benefits resulting from this raised awareness is the increased acceptance of action sports into the mainstream. No longer will skateboarders, snowboarders, surfers, bmx bikers etc. be viewed as "outsiders" or "troublemakers." Increased awareness also opens the doors to new Action Sports infrastructure development to address safety, environmental, and community issues. Look at the extraordinary growth of youth soccer, in the U.S., which has taken place in recent decades. Action Sports Association will inspire America to model action sports after the way soccer has been able to achieve ubiquity in the U.S. youth sports marketplace with the Action Sports kids with input on how that will be achieved. Action Sports Association is currently working in New Jersey, Secaucus, Hudson County, Point Pleasant Beach, & Boro, Ocean, Monmouth counties, and the City of Newark with the programs outline into their Schools, and Parks & Recreation programs. Action Sports Association has been giving the GREEN LIGHT to present a park development plan for Hudson County, New Jersey to build an outdoor-lighted 24/7/365 ACTION SPORTS PARK in the New, Secaucus, Hudson County Park, Laurel Hill Park, “Snake Hill”, Secaucus, NJ., and soon Essex Counties Park “Branch Brook Park” in Newark, NJ. Creating Jobs in Construction, Maintenance, Instruction, and Teaching I. Economic Action Sports Association looks to the following model to be applied In partnership with The State of New Jersey, & other States across America! The Rhode Island Sports Council is a non -profit public/private partnership Between the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. The mission of the council is To attract major amateur, and professional sporting events to the state as An economic generator and tourism vehicle. Since its inception in 1993, to 2001 the Sports Council has been involved with events that produced an Estimated $300 million in economic benefits to the state. Note: above is where funding was generated to attract Birth Place of Action Sports Association Newport 1995 X-Games I & II. The Action Sports Association is proposing the following in the East Coast New Jersey Meadowlands/Secaucus/Newark areas; Annual Action Sports Tradeshow Convention; currently (3) times a year in San Diego www.asrbiz.com Annual Action Sports Film, Fashion, Art, Music Festival Meadowlands Action Sports Retail: Indoor Snowboarding & Surfing www.meadowlandsxanadu,com Retail complex for Action Sports Stores Skate Plaza: www.skateplaza.com: Mt Laurel Park, Secaucus, N.J. One is coming to Princeton: current empty retail spaces will now benefit! Ultimate Boarder Event: www.ultimateboarder.com ESPN TV: X-Games: 5 YEARS Summer & Winter In New Jersey NBC TV: Action Sports Pro Tour: www.nbcaspt.com CBS TV: LG Action Sports World Tour Championship Gravity Games: Octagon/Primedia www.GravitygamesH2O.com Action Sports Park: Outdoors 24/7 Lighted. "The Rock On the Turnpike" Snake Hill, Laurel Hill Park, Hudson County New Park, Secaucus, N. J. Secaucus New Train Station New County Avenue: Free School ID Access for the youth to get to Park, Newark, & Meadowlands Action Sports Park across turnpike next to New Train Station & New NJ Turnpike exit 15X Go Skateboarding Day & Go Surfing Day: State Sponsors Holidays Go" Roll-On Anything Day””(RAD) Holiday for non-motorized transportation Action Sports Association events above held throughout the America for preparation for the Future GOAL!!! Olympics 2016!!!. New York City tried to get the 2012 Olympics, and failed. Now the entire Northeast, and "All Americans" will all "come together", and get the 2016 Olympics. Being ready for it when it comes!!! With the America having all the "Action Sports" locations in place, not just New York City!!!. Note: By 2016 Olympics All Action Sports Events will be Olympics Events II. Education & Healthcare 21st Century“ The Activities Healthy Lifestyle Lifetime Habits Organization” Action Sports Association a 21st Centuries: Boys, & Girls Club, Little League, Pop Warner organization. The following programs are part of Action Sports Association programs.. A. School of Skate: www.Skatepass.com Skate Pass, the company that made history last year by bringing Skateboarding into schools, has made incredible progress this year. School districts in Colorado, Indiana, New York, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Iowa, Canada, and Germany are bringing skateboarding into P.E. classes. In addition, the U.S. Army has ordered the Skate Pass program. See also Interview story below B. Calif. Skateboarder League Association: www.CASLUSF.Com Throughout the year staff, and volunteers work with the young skateboarders, their families, and various communities to promote the positive sport of skateboarding as both a recreational and serious athletic endeavor with emphasis focused on the communities providing skaters with a "Safe " positive action sports skateboarding environment. C. www.CreateASkate.org "Program opens your eyes to the most exciting applied learning program now available to schools and recreation knowledge. Educators have an exciting medium to catch and keep a student positive. Students learn life's lessons through the relevance of making a skateboard. Parents know their child will gain applied educational attention" D. National Skateboarder High School Association: www. sk8NHSSA.com “Programs to allow high schools to put in place organized teams/clubs to allow the youth the chance to stay active, with support, and rewards equal to other current high school team sports, this will help lead to a future career path with scholarships for these activities for college education, and also fair earnings for these activities with a union for representation. Stoked Mentoring is a non profit action sports organization for at risk youth with the mission of developing Successful Teens with Opportunity, Knowledge, Experience, and Determination through the use of action sports, mentoring and coaching. Board Rescue dedicated to providing skateboards & safety equipment to children; targeting low-income children and at-risk youth. Board Rescue is dedicated to getting skateboards and safety equipment to underprivileged and/or at-risk youth, every child should have the opportunity to skateboard regardless of their economic background. www.BoardRescue.com There are many other excellent Programs, & Organizations that are also outlined in the Business Plan built with Rutgers University help! Given United States of America’s, focus on programs that support youth, education, families, and physical activity, through "improving the quality of life for our communities, getting kids more physically active, and having real, positive, and measurable impacts," the Action Sports Association feels there is a suitable match in Goals. III. Social Change GROWTH OF ACTION SPORTS The growth and participation in action sports has been staggering over the past ten years. The chart below highlights the participation in numerous sports, both traditional and action sports. As indicated in the data, participation in traditional sports has remained stagnant or decreased while action sports have seen a rise in all segments except for inline skating. Rank Action Sports # of Participants % of Females 1. Inline Skating 12,814,000 5.8% 2. Skateboarding 10,429,000 2.7% 3. Mountain Biking 6,892,000 2.5% 4. Snowboarding 6,841,000 1.3% 5. Climbing 4,576,000 1.9% 6. BMX Bicycling 1,887,000 2.0% TIME MAGAZINE COVER STORY I. It's not every day you see an overweight kid on a skateboard. The TIME magazine cover from June 23, 2008 illustrates this perfectly with their special report on youth obesity. While the article doesn't address the health aspects of skateboarding specifically, it surveys the overall health of American youth. The bottom line is that one-third of American kids are overweight. It's a problem we need to address today. Skateboarding remains one of the nation's most popular activities among kids and young adults. Parks Departments across the nation know it. According to Recreation Management magazine, Parks Districts put "new skatepark" at number 6 among their planned amenities nation-wide. It should come as no surprise. Skateparks require no active programming, on-site staff, and almost no operational maintenance. With increasing expectations to do more stuff with less money, Parks are seeing Skateparks as an excellent option. A properly design and constructed concrete skatepark will typically be one of the single most-used park amenities within a district and yet carry some of the lowest maintenance costs. Even the initial costs of acquisition are low when compared to the expense of other active-use areas. The paramount concern is our own health. Finally, we're seeing people take a physical activity that is already popular "in the wild" and supporting it with facilities that build on that interest. The time has never been better to start getting serious about your next skatepark II. In April of 2006 a separate study was released by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which states: "...physically active adolescents are not only improving their health - they also are decreasing the chance that they will get into trouble. Among teens who fare well are skateboarders, particularly regarding their self-esteem and despite a lack of wide public support for the activity." Case Study: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Dr Penny -Gordon-Larson "Physically Active Kids Get into Less Trouble", Catching Air but Not Getting High", Kids who regularly exercise and participate in sports even sports with bad reputations like skateboarding and BMX Biking are more likely to stay out of trouble !". This case study is proof of showing the benefits of Action Sports on Children, & Youth;. III.THE NEW PHYSICAL EDUCATION Physical education (“PE”) programs are realizing the need to cater to the shifting needs of the today’s youth. Only ten percent of today’s children are considered “natural athletes” that enjoy a physically competitive environment. Research shows that the dynamics of today’s PE programs should be less competition-oriented and more focused on individual activities. Why the need for a change in PE classes? Due to the increase in obesity and the falling levels of active youth, many schools are now focused on promoting healthy activities that students will employ for a lifetime. According to the Harvard Education Letter (November 2000), “the percentage of overweight young people – 14 percent of children aged 6 to 11 and 12 percent of those aged 12 to 17 – has more than doubled in the past 30 years…almost half of young people aged 12 to 21 and more than one-third of high school students get no vigorous exercise on a regular basis.” This trend, in conjunction with the budget cuts that affect PE programs, is likely to continue if the traditional outlook on PE in schools does not change. The new physical education programs (“New PE”) promote physical education as an enjoyable part of life. Traditional, but competitive sports, such as baseball and basketball, may facilitate a feeling of embarrassment and a dread of gym class and leave many students on the sidelines. In addition, research shows that team sports do not interest girls as much as individual and smaller-group activities. Most importantly, some argue, is that team sports do not adequately prepare students for a lifetime of physical fitness. Having activities such as jogging engrained into a youth’s regimens does a better job of promoting physical activity throughout his life. The premise of the New PE surrounds a “greater variety of games and activities, especially those for small groups, so that all students will enjoy PE, not just athletes…[programs] emphasize cooperation and fair play while making sure everyone gets an equal chance to participate.” Action Sports Association can work with programs to introduce students to the non-competitive and individual aspects of Action Sports Associations The percentage of participants Action Sports skateboarders for five or more years has been steadily increasing since 2002 from 9% to 34% today 21st Century“ The Activities Healthy Lifestyle Lifetime Habits Organization” GROWTH OF ORGANIZED BASEBALL, SOCCER, AND LACROSSE Common Themes The only major difference in equating action sports to the sports listed below are the benefits already outlined above, and that action sports are individual sports while the other sports are more team oriented. There are some common themes that all three of the below referenced sports share which relate to the potential growth of action sports. All of these sports started small and grew with time. It is critical to keep in mind that with patience and persistence most any youth sports activities can be developed into organizations with advanced developed youth leagues. Over the past 60 years there has been tremendous growth associated with lacrosse, soccer and youth baseball in the United States. Below are the histories of some of these youth oriented leagues along with the levels of participation that presently coincide with these sports. Baseball The growth of little league baseball has followed a pattern of growth similar to that of soccer. Many people fail to recognize that the growth of little league did not just happen over night. At the time, there was no common thread uniting the thousands of children playing baseball across the United States. This was the case until 1939 when the "Little League" that we are most familiar with was founded in Williamsport, Pennsylvania by Carl Stortz. The initial league stated out as a three league team. The league has now grown to over 200,000 teams and is organized in over 80 countries.[1] Little League baseball still caters to those that are under 12 years of age. "Babe Ruth" baseball leagues caterer to those that still have a penchant for the game and are aged 13 to 15. This league formed over 55 years ago in New Jersey and had very humble beginnings just like the Little League.[2] Soccer The growth of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) has been staggering over the past 40 years. The organization started out as a nine league team in Los Angeles which wanted to promote the growth of the sport for all children, as opposed to just those members of ethnic clubs. The AYSO now has over 50,000 teams and 650,000 players distributed world wide. Over 40% of today’s players are girls. The league is and continues to be supported by over 250,000 volunteers who act as coaches, referees and team parents. The organization itself employs 50 individuals to support the league on a full time basis.[3] Lacrosse The growth of Lacrosse has also increased in the United States over the past ten years. A game which was once confined to the Northeast of the United States and played mainly in elite prep schools and upscale suburban neighborhoods has spread like wildfire throughout the United States. Many look at the game as an fast-paced alternative to the slow pace of baseball. With the growth of Lacrosse, two major professional leagues have sprouted in the United States. Set forth below are some facts from that document the growth of the sport in the United States over the past ten years.[4] Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in high school athletics for both men and women combined. Individually for each gender it is ranked as the second fastest growing high school sport. Lacrosse on the collegiate level is continuing the trend seen in high school athletics. Even with all of the restrictions imposed on men’s athletics due to Title IX restraints, Lacrosse was the fastest growing sports in men’s college athletics over the past ten years. The growth of youth lacrosse over the past ten years has also been significant. Participation levels for children under the age of 15 has grown from 40,000 participants in 1999 to over 125,000 in 2006. The college lacrosse Final Four has grown to be the second most watched collegiate finals in the United States behind basketball’s Final Four. ACTION SPORTS ASSOCIATION The birthplace of Action Sports Association was 1995 when the ESPN X-Games I started in Rhode Island; Newport & Providence RI. In 1995, livingon Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island, I was at the 1st X-Games . I watched the X-Games I & X-Games II in my home on an island; Fort Adams and Downtown Newport was my Sunrise & Sunset views. I also was present at 1996,1997. I went on to follow personally the growth of Action Sports x-games in San Diego 1998, Phil 2001,2002, and LA 2003, Mountain Dew Tour Jersey City NJ 2004. I have meet many amateurs & pros, in the Action Sports Activities. I wrote this vision in 1998, and having been building my team since. Thank You All Along The Way. Newport, RI 1995, where did the time go? I look forward to submitting a full proposal to you and to answering any immediate questions you may have. I may be reached at Rico@actionsportsassociation.us. Through your generosity, the Action Sports Association can ensure that the health care, physical, social, educational, environmental, and economic benefits of action sports can be realized within local communities and better the futures of our youth. John R. Ricciardi Jr., "Rico" President/Founder Action Sports Association Newspaper Stories: Action Sports Association & Action Sports Educational Informational Point Pleasant Boro man aims to change action sports By Melissa Peace Ocean Star Newspaper Point Pleasant resident John “Rico” Ricciardi has been tirelessly working in recent years to bring action sports, such as skateboarding, to the forefront of sports through a program and association he has created. According to Mr. Ricciardi, his brainchild, the non-profit “Action Sports Association” was created by him a year ago in an attempt to “create social change, economic development, education, employment environmental, and medical programs, safety and security on behalf of our children, youth and future generations,” through action sports. An avid skateboarder himself, Mr. Ricciardi said the association centers on increasing awareness, education, promoting activities and preserving awareness of the new industry action-sporting event. These events include non-traditional sports such as skateboarding, surfing, inline skating, BMX biking, rock climbing, wake boarding, snowboarding and motocross biking. Mr. Ricciardi said he wants to create more venues for children to express their love for action sports. “I want to be able to give kids the opportunities to engage in these kinds of sports in the same way that they can play on baseball or soccer fields,” said Mr. Ricciardi. He said skateboarding is nearly a $5 billion industry with close to 14 million skateboarders in the United States alone. He said there are currently over 1 million BMX riders in the U.S. with sales of their bikes accounting for over 30 percent of total bike sales. Snowboarding, which currently makes up 25 percent of all winter sports participants, will be featured in the 2008 Winter Olympics after making its debut in 1998. In an effort to make his project successful, Mr. Ricciardi said he has been working with a team of business consultants from Rutgers University to fully develop the association. “I’ve been working with Rutgers to try and create this program, which would not only help the kids, but create jobs for people within action sports,” said Mr. Ricciardi. “Right now, there is such a lack of social engagement within action sports. I want that to change.” The student consulting team from Rutgers will put together a comprehensive business plan for Mr. Ricciardi to bring to potential investors. The plan will be developed by utilizing research that uncovers corporate best practices on how non-profit organizations obtain funding. These best practices will be incorporated into the business plan. The plan will include avenues for potential implementation, such as advertising or league formation. According to Mr. Ricciardi, his main goal is to spark the growth of the action sports industry on the East Coast, beginning in New Jersey, while promoting its psychological, youth-oriented, environmental, and socio-economic benefits to the community. Mr. Ricciardi said he will keep his non-profit organization focused on the greater good of the community. “Specifically, the organization's focus is to raise awareness among all government levels, education systems, corporate entities, local groups and individuals in hopes of generating funding for action sports-related infrastructure and events,” said Mr. Ricciardi. Though he is currently working to get his project off the ground into fruition, Mr. Ricciardi took some time late last month to attend the Action Sports Retail Convention in San Diego. While there, he said he was able to discuss his plan with some action sports figureheads and executives. “It was great being at the convention. I had the chance to meet and talk with a lot of people,” said Mr. Ricciardi. Luckily for the Borough resident, Point Pleasant is one of the few towns in New Jersey that has built a skate park for community use. Mr. Ricciardi said the park, located on Route 88, is “awesome,” since there are not many towns with parks specifically built for skateboarders. “The program is for the kids, but it is really going to benefit the entire community,” said Mr. Ricciardi. A spin in an X-treme league N.J. man rolls out action sports plan to pump money into nontraditional athletics Tuesday, May 06, 2008 BY RUDY LARINI Newhouse News Service The Star Ledger John Ricciardi was struck by the contradiction. all this friends loved skateboarding, but they had trouble finding places to ride without being hassled, let alone a place to test their skills in competition. That's where the dream started. Ricciardi, learned there were competitive skateboard leagues in California and wondered why skateboarding and other action sports couldn't enjoy the same structure, popularity and acceptance as Little League baseball and Pop Warner football in New Jersey. Seeking to promote the building of new facilities, Ricciardi teamed up with the Rutgers business school and has embarked on a bid to organize the sport and become the latest entrepreneur to carve out a niche in a $5 billion industry. Ricciardi envisions a federation of school and community X-treme sports programs under the umbrella of the Action Sports Association, a nonprofit organization he has created to generate support for nontraditional athletic activities, such as skateboarding, BMX biking, inline skating, and rock climbing. Under Ricciardi's business plan, jobs would be created for park Builders & operators and action sports activities instructors. Creating Jobs in Construction, Maintenance, and Teaching "I'm trying to create an awakening in the citizenry of New Jersey to the upside of the industry of action sports," Point Pleasant resident said. CATCHING A WAVE Skateboarding had its origins in the 1950s, when surfers realized they could duplicate the feel of riding a wave on land by putting wheels on a wooden board. It experienced a slump in the 1960s when concerns were raised about its safety, but underwent resurgence in the mid-1970s with the introduction of the urethane wheel. The sport, as well as all other action sports, got a major boost in 1995 with the advent of ESPN's X-Games. Now in their 14th year, the X-Games will span two weeks in Los Angeles this August. Through an organization called Skate Pass, skateboarding also has been introduced into the physical education programs at high schools in California and at least 10 other states. There are some 2,000 skate parks across the country, including more than 50 in New Jersey, and Heidi Lemmon of the Skate Park Association of the United States estimated But she is skeptical of Ricciardi's plan to parlay action sports into a thriving business venture. "At the amateur level, there's no big money in action sports," she said. "If his plan is to make money off of amateur sports, he'd better get into the clothing end of it." Action Sports Association is a Non Profit Organization focused on the greater good of the community, not to make profits ! “Specifically, the organization's focus is to raise awareness among all government levels, education systems, corporate entities, local groups and individuals in hopes of generating funding for action sports-related infrastructure and events,” said Mr. Ricciardi. Organized skateboarding has long existed on the West Coast, where the California Amateur Skateboard League is now in its 22nd year, offering competitions throughout the year in all age groups from eight and younger, to 16 and older. A CHALLENGE Last year a California man, Jeffrey Stern, started the first high school skateboarding league with seven schools in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. It has grown to 21 teams in its second year, and Stern said he has been besieged with inquiries about duplicating his effort. "The exposure and the demand -- it just got out of hand," Stern said. "I was getting phone calls and e-mails from all over the country." Ricciardi said his efforts to attract funding for skateboarding programs have been a tough slog. "When I was talking to people, they were hearing 'skateboarding' and they were not even listening to me because skateboarders were perceived as troublesome," he said. Stern said he, too, at first met staunch resistance to organizing the sport from both schools and skateboarders. "I've been through more trouble than you can imagine," he said. "I've jumped through more hoops and hurdles." But he thinks Ricciardi can make his plan work. "It's more than possible because I'm doing it," he said. There's also a question whether skateboarders, with their reputation as rebellious daredevils, would embrace any effort to organize their pastime. "To tell you the truth, a lot of the older guys are not going to be into that," said John Cruz of Bloomfield, a 17-year-old who works at a skateboarding shop in Montclair. "It just doesn't work like that. You get into skateboarding because it's different." There are many old pros, and current pros that are in favor of this plan Rick Duardo, owner of the Unreal Skateshop in Somerville, thinks young skaters might accept organization more readily than older ones. "For the younger kids who are picking it up -- 8 to 12 years old -- I don't think they would mind," he said. But he questioned the need for giving skateboarding any more of a boost than it already has. "The industry is booming," he said. John Bernard’s, Chairman of the Board of the International Association of Skateboard Companies, is impressed by Ricciardi's plan. The hard part, he said, will be making it work. "It's a very viable program -- if he can pull it off," Bernard’s said. "He's got a great plan and if he can pull it off, he'll do something to benefit the kids in New Jersey for sure." But Ricciardi is not deterred by the skepticism. "I've seen the growth of these activities and I know I'm right," he said. "At the same time, I'm frustrated, because I was ready to do this in 1999." Now, however, armed with a business blueprint for his Action Sports Association, Ricciardi is determined to succeed. "I have an aggressive plan and I'm trying to get somebody to listen to me," he said. "It's going to happen. I don't care if I'm out there another five years. I'm going to do this. "I'm young at heart and I know I'm right and I'm never going to give up. I'm just waiting for an angel to come forward to make this dream happen." Please read these past newspaper stories that will educate & show all Americans the proofs that it is time for Action Sports Association! Skateboarding Rolls Out of the Suburbs Robert Wright for The New York Times CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD Street surfers at the Brooklyn Museum. Below, Pharrell Williams tricks gravity. IT was late afternoon when the young skaters gathered in front of the Brooklyn Museum on Eastern Parkway. Weaving among the commuters who trudged from a nearby subway station, the skaters hurdled steps, slid along curbs and kick-flipped their boards into the air. With a few exceptions, their performances fell somewhere between outright beginner and advanced novice. But it wasn’t their ability or the lack of it that made this group notable, it was the composition: most of the skaters were black. Skip to next paragraph Lawrence Lucier/FilmMagic Long an activity favored by white kids, skateboarding has surged into mainstream culture on a wave of multimedia appeal. The ESPN X Games are in their 13th season, 3 current shows on MTV feature professional skaters, and sales from the Tony Hawk video game series on Activision have totaled over a billion dollars. And by infiltrating hip-hop music and urban fashion, the sport has found new popularity among a black demographic that traditionally regarded skating with apprehension, if not scorn. “I think a lot of the stigma changed from it being a predominantly white thing, to being for everybody,” said Sheldon Thompson, 20, of Flatbush, one of the more experienced skateboarders at the museum. He now offers instruction to fledgling skaters in his predominantly Caribbean neighborhood. “They started skating this year, and they can already do some stuff that’s hard for me,” he said. In New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities, skateboarding has joined the fraternity of minority street games. “You had basketball, you had strikeouts, you had street football which you played manhole-to-manhole,” said Bahr Brown, who opened Harlem’s first skate shop, Everything Must Go, in October last year. “Now a kid comes in my shop and he’s like, ‘Yo, Mom, can I get a skateboard?’” From the “street surfers” of the 1960s to the shaggy-haired Southern Californians who sailed up empty swimming pools in the 1970s, the earliest skaters were usually white kids. During a surge of popularity in late 1980s, the sport was celebrated for possessing a rebellious punk-rock edge (even as the skaters’ flannel shirts and bandannas had origins in Latino style). In black neighborhoods, skateboarding was regarded as something foreign that crept in from the suburbs. “Black people would look at me like I was the brother who fell from another planet,” said Steven Snyder, 45, a former professional skateboarder and a manager at Uprise Skateboard Shop in Chicago. He compares the social stigma of skating within the black community to that of “making out with a white woman in the 1950s down South.” Over the last two decades, the sport shifted away from ramp-based vert skating to street skating, a variation that made use of urban structures like stairways, curbs and railings. As the importance of access to ramps dwindled, skateboarding’s fan base grew increasingly diverse. From the mid-1980s onward, black street skaters such as Ray Barbee, Kareem Campbell and Harold Hunter (who died last year) became prominent. In 2004, Reebok started sponsoring Stevie Williams, a gold-toothed, bling-flashing skater from Philadelphia. Mr. Williams, now 27, has his own line of Reebok gear, DGK by RBK (DGK is an acronym for Dirty Ghetto Kids), and is regarded as a successor to Allen Iverson and Jay-Z as a pitchman with street appeal. “I realized I wasn’t really on their level,” Mr. Williams said in an interview, “but I can get to there with a lot of hard work and people supporting me. At the end of the day, I’m young — I’m not as old as those dudes and I probably don’t have as much business experience. I just need to work hard to achieve that.” The importance of skateboarding in urban communities has not gone unnoticed by some of the sport’s most successful figures. Tony Hawk, the veteran skateboarder who oversees an empire of video games, equipment and extreme-sport tours, heads Stand Up for Skateparks, which has raised funds for the construction of over 300 skate parks in low-income areas. “Every community says they get used more than any other sporting facility they have — any basketball court, any tennis court, any baseball field,” Mr. Hawk said. As the stigma against skateboarding in the black community has dissipated, hip-hop artists have become some of the sport’s most influential advocates. Instead of being called a “white boy,” black skaters are now compared to rap artists. “If you hang around your African-American friends that don’t skate, you’re going to get the nickname ‘Skateboard P’,” said Iusu Beckle, 18, another Brooklyn native who skates at the museum. The original “Skateboard P” is Pharrell Williams, the rapper and producer. In the 2002 video for “Rock Star,” a song by his group N.E.R.D., Mr. Williams wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a logo from Shorty’s, a Santa Barbara, Calif., skate shop, and performed atop a ramp as skaters careered past him. “I was rapping and it was getting me nowhere, so I went back to my roots,” he said in a telephone interview explaining his decision to intertwine his music with an adolescent hobby. The widely played video helped solidify the bonds between the hip-hop and skateboarding scenes, and Mr. Williams subsequently founded a professional skate team, and even constructed a small ramp in his backyard in Virginia. “When I’m with rappers in the studio, they say, ‘I used to skate, too,’” Mr. Williams said. “I can only just say I was one of the ones that was willing to speak up about it.” Other hip-hop performers have since become more willing to express their solidarity with the skating community. In 2006, Lupe Fiasco released his debut single “Kick, Push,” a song whose title is lingo for the footwork used to propel a skateboard. “I got dissed for it because they said I wasn’t a real skater,” he said. But he also drew praise for the song title, he said, “because the people thought I didn’t have to be a real skater. I’m just telling that story and appreciating it.” Overlap between hip-hop and skateboarding fashion is also increasingly common. Just as Run-DMC lauded Adidas and Nelly praised the Nike Air Force 1, the Berkeley-based quartet the Pack gave Vans a new legitimacy when they named a 2006 song after the venerable sneaker brand. “I’m walking through some of the grimiest parts of Oakland and I’m seeing kids on skateboards, that’s something you would never see before ‘Vans’ came out,” said Keith (Stunna) Jenkins, 19, a rapper from the Pack. “I used to wear Vans and people used to tell me I looked like Mr. Miyagi with those karate shoes.” UNSURPRISINGLY, some first-time skaters drawn into the sport by catchy choruses or candy-colored sneakers are dismissed as poseurs. “You’ll see kids that are dressed up like Mars Blackman, wearing Cazals and a cycling cap and tight denim, and they’re walking around with a skateboard as an accessory, holding it in a way we call ‘the mall grab,’” said Jefferson Pang, a former professional skater and the East Coast brand manager for DC Skateboarding. Yet for those new recruits who can endure the taunts (not to mention the scrapes, bruises and countless moments of looking foolish that skateboarding inevitably demands), the allure of trendiness can be a gateway to deeper appreciation. Wesley Cordero, a 16-year-old from Manhattan, was sitting on the amphitheater-style steps in front of the Brooklyn Museum, wearing a DC Skateboarding shirt, wallet chain and skinny-legged jeans, with his skateboard leaning next to him. When three black kids wearing crisply pressed school clothes politely asked to borrow his board, he agreed, watching from his perch as they unsuccessfully attempted a few tricks and strolled off into the October dusk. “Some kids just do it because it’s a trend and they want to fit in,” Mr. Cordero said. He, of course, has been skating for several months. The widely played video helped solidify the bonds between the hip-hop and skateboarding scenes, and Mr. Williams subsequently founded a professional skate team, and even constructed a small ramp in his backyard in Virginia. “When I’m with rappers in the studio, they say, ‘I used to skate, too,’” Mr. Williams said. “I can only just say I was one of the ones that was willing to speak up about it.” Other hip-hop performers have since become more willing to express their solidarity with the skating community. In 2006, Lupe Fiasco released his debut single “Kick, Push,” a song whose title is lingo for the footwork used to propel a skateboard. “I got dissed for it because they said I wasn’t a real skater,” he said. But he also drew praise for the song title, he said, “because the people thought I didn’t have to be a real skater. I’m just telling that story and appreciating it.” Overlap between hip-hop and skateboarding fashion is also increasingly common. Just as Run-DMC lauded Adidas and Nelly praised the Nike Air Force 1, the Berkeley-based quartet the Pack gave Vans a new legitimacy when they named a 2006 song after the venerable sneaker brand. “I’m walking through some of the grimiest parts of Oakland and I’m seeing kids on skateboards, that’s something you would never see before ‘Vans’ came out,” said Keith (Stunna) Jenkins, 19, a rapper from the Pack. “I used to wear Vans and people used to tell me I looked like Mr. Miyagi with those karate shoes.” UNSURPRISINGLY, some first-time skaters drawn into the sport by catchy choruses or candy-colored sneakers are dismissed as poseurs. “You’ll see kids that are dressed up like Mars Blackman, wearing Cazals and a cycling cap and tight denim, and they’re walking around with a skateboard as an accessory, holding it in a way we call ‘the mall grab,’” said Jefferson Pang, a former professional skater and the East Coast brand manager for DC Skateboarding. Yet for those new recruits who can endure the taunts (not to mention the scrapes, bruises and countless moments of looking foolish that skateboarding inevitably demands), the allure of trendiness can be a gateway to deeper appreciation. Wesley Cordero, a 16-year-old from Manhattan, was sitting on the amphitheater-style steps in front of the Brooklyn Museum, wearing a DC Skateboarding shirt, wallet chain and skinny-legged jeans, with his skateboard leaning next to him. When three black kids wearing crisply pressed school clothes politely asked to borrow his board, he agreed, watching from his perch as they unsuccessfully attempted a few tricks and strolled off into the October dusk. “Some kids just do it because it’s a trend and they want to fit in,” Mr. Cordero said. He, of course, has been skating for several months. POPE'S A HOLY ROLLER HE'LL GET SKATEBOARD PRESENT By TODD VENEZIA HIS RADNESS: City kids are competing to design Pope Benedict's March 29, 2008 -- When Pope Benedict comes to New York next month, he's going to need a half-pipe as much as he needs an altar. The Archdiocese of New York is planning to present Pope Benedict XVI with a special skateboard with graphics designed by a local child. "This is part of the culture of the city," said the Rev. Peter Pomposello of St. Elizabeth's Church in Washington Heights. "The Holy Father encourages us to realize that we have to take the good in our culture and capitalize on that to get the word out about Jesus Christ." Although skateboarding and God don't go together in most people's minds, Pomposello said there is nothing about the sport that is inherently ungodly - and that it can be used to teach religious message. "This is a beautiful way to turn the culture of skateboarding into something positive," he said. The skateboard designs will feature graphics with a religious theme - including the colors, black, white, red and yellow to match the Papal flag. Pomposello said that the idea came from the skateboarding club for youngsters at his church. "One of the kids said, 'Why don't we give him a skateboard?' and, boom, it was on," Pomposello said. "This was an opportunity to teach the children about the Holy Father." So far, some 70 young people - aged 11 to 18 - have entered a contest to design the board. Most entries have the words "Christ our hope," which is the theme of the pope's visit, and include a cross. The top three entries will be fabricated into real skateboards, with the winner given to the pope as a gift during his New York visit. It wouldn't be the first time a pontiff connected with New York street culture - Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, once blessed a group of break dancers at the Vatican. The pope was also known to bless Ferraris. Pomposello hopes to present the board during a youth rally in Yonkers, though the exact details of the presentation are not finalized. All of the other board designs will be put on display at the Boardpusher.com Web site, where anyone can pick one they like and have it made. "Parents can go there and have their child's design made into a board," Pomposello said. "The money will go to charity." The pope is scheduled to begin his US tour April 15 in Washington, DC. He plans to visit New York from April 18-20. Benedict is expected to visit sites such as Yankee Stadium, the United Nations and Ground Zero. China: Action’s next frontier Government’s interest helps genre grow By TRIPP MICKLE Published April 14, 2008 : Page 01 In March 2006, a group of five Chinese businessmen visited NBC Sports to learn about new business opportunities. They sat through a presentation on NBC’s plans for the Beijing Olympics and then watched a short sales video for the Dew Action Sports Tour. When the video ended, the most senior of these businessmen spoke to his colleagues in Mandarin. “My chairman likes these sports,” said Zhou Qiang, one of the delegates. “They make him feel young.” Zhou’s translation proved a fitting prelude to the delegation’s interest in action sports. It culminated last August when his government-subsidized company, Xingyi, cut a deal with NBC to bring the AST to Beijing, making the action sports property the latest in a long line looking to penetrate the Chinese market with its first event there this weekend in Beijing. Once a niche world of counterculture sports practiced in a small swath of Southern California, action sports companies and properties have been exporting their lifestyle sports internationally for years, but lately their efforts have adopted a laserlike focus on the land of yuan. Action sports’ creativity is one of its appealing aspects for the Chinese. This year alone, AST, X Games and Action Sports Association will host events there, and brands such as Quiksilver and Burton will undertake new programs in the market. DC Shoes, Oakley, Nike and Adidas skateboarding are all following suit, and Volcom and Vans are rumored to be on their way. The collective push has created one of the fastest-growing and promising markets for action sports in the world, driven by the rare convergence of company promotions, events and government interest that is combining to raise public awareness of action sports across China. “In America, the sports came first and then the industry grew up around the sport,” said Cathey Curtis, Quiksilver’s general manager of greater China. “Here it’s the opposite. The companies, the properties and government are coming first and the sports will come with time.” Penetrating the market won’t be without challenges. Since the Chinese culture emphasizes community, parents typically push their children into sports like basketball that foster teamwork. Also, the country’s one-child policy makes parents hesitant to let their teen pursue action sports because of the perceived danger of injury. Despite the challenges, there are signs that the properties and companies pushing action sports in China are making headway, Curtis said. Five years ago, she rarely saw skateboarders on the streets of Shanghai. Now, that’s become more common. She added, “As more and more people come over, skate and snowboard will continue growing.” Government guidance While much of the heavy lifting in the form of events and education about action sports is being carried out by companies and properties, no aspect of pop culture enters China without the government’s tacit approval. The Chinese government began warming up to action sports in 2004 when it created the Chinese Extreme Sports Association. A year later, the government completed the world’s largest skatepark in Shanghai at a reported cost of $12 million, proof of the resources the government is willing to invest in action sports. Today, the Extreme Sports Association holds three local contests, which are drawing larger and larger crowds, in China every year. The government’s interest in action sports is driven in part by its desire for Olympic success in snowboarding and skateboarding, should the latter be added to the Games. But also it sees the sports as healthy alternatives to video and computer games and as a way to cultivate innovation. Over the last decade, cheap labor has fueled much of China’s unprecedented economic growth, but the country believes that imagination and innovation hold the key to continued economic prosperity. Sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding and BMX, which encourage the creation of new tricks, will inspire young people to innovate. “In a larger sense, the action sports culture fits well with the prevailing youth culture in China — creativity, be yourself,” said Zhou, who is bringing the AST to China this week. “This is something even the top leadership of China is trying to promote.” Zhou’s Xingyi company is responsible for the China New Media Development Zone’s efforts to develop a Chinese Burbank, Calif. — an area where businesses build corporate campuses and tap into some of the brightest minds in the country. For that reason, he’s not only hosting an AST event, he also is exploring the idea of creating Woodward China, an action sports camp where young people could learn and practice the sports. Zhou confesses that action sports remain largely unknown in China, and like many of the brands and properties that have pushed them over the last decade, he believes it will be several years before AST creates a packed event backed by sponsors spending millions. As for how long, he doesn’t know. “I know we’re five years behind, but that’s the whole point,” he said. “We are in a position to really jump-start the entire action sports (scene).” Brand backing Quiksilver was one of the first action sports companies to make a push into China in an effort to ignite action sports there. The company arrived in China in late 2003 through a joint venture with a Hong Kong company. It opened four stores in a little more than a year, but it wasn’t until it sponsored skater Danny Way’s jump over the Great Wall of China in 2005 that it began to get marketplace recognition. Way plummeted down a $500,000 mega-ramp and soared over the Great Wall five times. His success across the 61-foot gap was televised nationally in China and had more than 700 pages of press clippings worldwide. Danny Way’s leap over the Great Wall in 2005 was a turning point for action sports in China. Many consider the iconic moment to be the turning point for skateboarding in China. The number of skate shops in Shanghai has gone from four to 20 today, said Brian Smith, Quiksilver’s core sports marketing manager. “After (Danny’s jump), it began to be accepted in popular society,” he said. Quiksilver now has 30 stores in China. Though it remains the only international board sport company building a retail business in the marketplace, Burton has followed it into China in an effort to expand its snowboarding apparel and board sales. Snowboarding remains a nascent sport in China, but the Chinese ski industry has expanded rapidly over the last decade with the number of registered resorts rising from nine to more than 205. Burton estimates there are 40,000 snowboarders in China, up from 30,000 a year ago. Burton began selling snowboards there in 2002 and now has one sales rep, four part-time employees and one full-time marketing manager in charge of promotions. The brand has a presence at approximately 25 retailers today, up from two when it first arrived. But the primary hurdle to increasing sales is instruction. The company launched its “Learn to Ride” program there to teach people how to snowboard, but the sport is so new that there aren’t enough instructors to conduct the program. This year the company will add a program to train instructors. “That’s how underdeveloped the marketplace is there,” said Craig Smith, Burton’s senior international sales director. Both Burton’s and Quiksilver’s approaches mirror the one Nike took when it entered the market in the 1980s. The company paid high schools to open their basketball courts to the public in order to stimulate interest in the sport. As basketball caught on so did Nike, which today claims sales of $1 billion in China. Burton hopes that by teaching the Chinese to snowboard it can stimulate the same growth. Quiksilver hopes to do the same by sponsoring popular musicians and having them perform at skate or snowboarding demos. “The numbers there can multiply very quickly,” said Bryan Johnson, Burton’s senior vice president of global marketing. “The issues, whether you’re in surf, skate or snow, is you have to create a population of advocates who can bring the market forward.” Property push The line formed three hours before ASA President Rick Bratman planned to open the doors for a skateboarding demonstration in Shanghai in 2004. He looked down the street and saw no end to what he called the “sea of humanity” his free skateboard competition had attracted. “We did almost no promotion,” Bratman said. “It just showed why it’s the most promising market in the world.” Bratman, whose ASA will return to Beijing this August for two events, said the Omnicom event company has invested roughly $4 million to $6 million in China on five events since 2004. Though he says ASA hasn’t turned a profit in China to date, he hopes to recoup his investment there in the future by becoming the primary promoter of action sports in the marketplace. ESPN’s X Games Asia has tapped into Chinese kids’ desire for all things American. ESPN’s X Games franchise is placing a similar bet. It took its first X Games Asia to China last year and will return for a second event in Shanghai on May 3. The franchise hopes to expand its consumer products market there and establish its brand as the gold standard of action sports events. “The theory is that if you grow the brand and make X Games synonymous with action sports in China, we can grow all our assets,” said X Games general manager Chris Stiepock. “It might make it possible to have more traffic online or to sell our bikes in Wal-Marts there — all of which goes back to growing our brand.” Though more than 40,000 people turned out for X Games Asia last year, the franchise faces challenges as it tries to get a toehold in the marketplace. Counterfeit products remain rampant and the Chinese remain unfamiliar with some events such as freestyle motocross, a sport so foreign that the crowd reportedly sat in silence the first day it appeared at last year’s Asian X Games. But Stiepock believes the hunger for the lifestyle and culture of action sports is strong enough to overcome those challenges. He discovered that firsthand while walking around Shanghai. Everywhere he went teenagers pointed at him. Concerned he was violating some unknown cultural rule, he got a translator to ask them why they were pointing. It turns out they loved his black and yellow DC shoes, which weren’t sold in China. “(Action sports are) not there yet, but there are a lot of people who are fans of the lifestyle and culture,” Stiepock said. “It’s something new, something different and something that’s exciting — all the same ingredients we started with here.” The Decline of Physical Activity: Why Are So Many Kids Out of Shape? By Ted Villaire RELATED ARTICLES Let's Just Play! Making Physical Activity a Family Affair In recent years, leading government health organizations have issued multiple reports outlining how a lack of exercise combined with poor eating habits are having devastating effects on the nation's children. One of the most alarming developments, according to organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, is the doubling of childhood obesity in the past 30 years—a trend they expect only to get worse as more schools eliminate gym classes and recess. Researchers maintain that it's not just the schools that are dropping the ball when it comes to adequately promoting physical activity among young people: Parents also play a significant role in the problem. By not strictly limiting TV watching, computer and video game use, and consumption of fast food, and not requiring their children to walk more, play outdoors, and participate in organized physical activities, more kids are putting on more pounds, and in many cases, setting themselves up for the risky medical problems that accompany obesity. Among the legions of young people in every age group who fail to get enough exercise, the biggest decline in physical activity occurs when students reach high school, according to CDC's 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The report showed that more than one-third of high school students do not regularly participate in vigorous physical activity (at least three 20-minute sessions per week). And only one-half of high school students regularly engage in stretching and strengthening exercises. The survey also showed that physical activity declines sharply as students get closer to graduation, and that the amount of physical activity is lower among high-school girls, particularly among African-American and Hispanic girls. At School Once customary for children at nearly every grade level, gym class, in recent years, has been steadily scaled back. Just during the past decade, the number of U.S. high school students attending daily physical education classes dropped from 42 to 29 percent. Currently, nearly half of all students and 75 percent of high school students do not attend any physical education classes, according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the nation's largest organization for physical education teachers. Judith Young, executive director of NASPE, maintains that schools cut gym classes for lack of funding, but more often cuts result from time constraints that develop with the addition of new curriculum. "Standards-based reform has been detrimental to physical education," said Young. Young said it troubles her to see gym classes eliminated, especially when physical education curriculum is getting better. Historically, she explained, physical education programs did a poor job of promoting life-long physical activity, and focused almost exclusively on a handful of competitive sports, such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, and baseball. According to a November 2000 report to the president from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education, kids need to be taught less competitive activities—such as bicycling, running, and swimming—because they're more likely to carry these activities into their adult lives. As gym classes get elbowed out of the curriculum in favor of other subjects, recess, in many school districts, is also in jeopardy. An estimated 40 percent of U.S. school districts either have eliminated recess or are considering eliminating it, said Rhonda Clements, president for the American Association of the Child's Right to Play. Some school districts cite safety and supervision issues as reasons for eliminating recess, explained Clements. But more likely, she said, recess is chucked in favor of an expanded curriculum. Clements argues that disposing of recess is a deeply misguided approach to education, given the lack of physical activity in the lives of many children. Recess, she explained, offers the only opportunity for students to engage in activities of their own choosing, and the unstructured activity in turn helps fulfill a host of needs related to socialization, imagination, exercise, and being outdoors. "Physical education is an academic subject," said Clements. "Recess allows kids to practice the skills they learned in P.E. The two need to go together." At home Raising a physically active child calls for continual support and encouragement from the family, said Randolph Wykoff, a deputy assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services. "When a child joins a team or club, it should be treated as a family commitment," explained Wykoff, who is also acting director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Kids need family support, but most importantly, he said, they need adults in their lives who are serving as physically active role models. Another valuable method for encouraging physical activity at home, said Wykoff, is limiting a child's sedentary leisure activities. According to a 1999 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, young people, aged 2-18, spend on average more than four hours a day playing video games, using a computer, viewing video tapes, and watching television. Most of this time—nearly three hours—is spent in front of a television. TV squeezes out time that could be spent in physically active pursuits, but also TV affects what children want to eat, explained William Dietz, a nutritionist at CDC. "We know it affects patterns of food consumption, wrote Dietz last year in CDC's Chronic Disease Notes and Reports. "Children eat foods they see advertised on TV. If you've seen any children's shows, you know that these foods tend to be fast foods, sugared breakfast cereals, and snacks. TV is a behavioral health hazard." If children don't adopt good eating and exercising habits, their body fat will likely increase, as will their risk for various health maladies, including high blood pressure, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, heart disease, and liver trouble, explained Dietz. The CDC reports that 13 percent of all kids age 6-17 are seriously overweight, up from 5 percent in 1964. More girls compared to boys are obese, as are more Hispanic and African-American children compared to white children. The older the obese child gets, the more likely he or she will continue to be obese as an adult, said Bernard Gutin, a researcher in childhood obesity and a professor of pediatrics and physiology at the Medical College of Georgia. In order to prevent obesity, "kids have to be put in an environment where exercise is available," said Gutin. "Parents may have to find that environment for their child if it's not available at the school." Gutin said a recent shock to pediatricians has been the growing number of adolescents with type 2 diabetes, a more serious type of diabetes that until recently was only seen in adults. Getting kids in shape The U.S. Surgeon General says that frequent bouts of physical activity enable children to build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints, and avoid high bloodpressure. Studies looking at the benefits of physical activity on academic performance have been inconclusive, but there's likely an indirect connection, considering all the psychological rewards that come with being physically fit. Numerous studies from the Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations report that sports and physical activity—for children and adults—reduces anxiety and depression, builds self-esteem, and enhances various skills, such as teamwork, self-discipline, sportsmanship, leadership, and socialization. So how much physical activity do kids need? Experts generally say it depends on their age. The 1994 International Consensus Conference on Physical Activity Guidelines for Adolescents recommended that adolescents participate in physical activity every day as a part of transportation, sports, games, or planned exercise. To build cardiovascular endurance, adolescents should engage in moderate to vigorous exercise three or more times a week for at least 20 minutes each session. For elementary-aged kids, NASPE recommends at least 60-minutes and up to several hours of age-appropriate exercise on all or most days of the week. This includes vigorous physical activity for several 10-15 minute sessions each day. These recommendations—among many others—were used by the Department of Health and Human Services in developing Healthy People 2010, an extensive report which mapped out national health priorities for the next decade in areas such as nutrition, cancer, mental health, and physical activity for adults and children. To reach the physical activity goals for children, the report recommended increasing the availability of community fitness facilities, increasing walking and bicycle riding, and increasing the availability and quality of physical education classes. It also set forth national goals for shortening children's sedentary leisure activities, curtailing junk food consumption, and reducing obesity levels. Most importantly, the report reminded parents and schools that kids need help developing an itch to be active, that they need support and encouragement in order to discover a life-long enthusiasm for physical activity. How Well Does Your School Promote Physical Activity? Does your elementary, middle, or high school help students attain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for them to lead healthy, active, and productive lives? Organizations such as the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that teachers, principals, and parents evaluate their school's strategies for promoting physical activity. Here ar
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