by Larry Eder
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is delighted to announce that IAAF Kids’ Athletics / Nestlé Healthy Kids, the flagship development project of its School / Youth programme, will be demonstrated in the heart of New York City on Wednesday 11 June.
IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics, which is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports, will be introduced to citizens of ‘The Big Apple’ in Herald Square on Broadway.
The demonstration is one of the lead-in promotions to the adidas Grand Prix, the sixth leg of the 2014 IAAF Diamond League which takes place on Saturday 14 June in Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island, New York.
Herald Square, which is located between 34th and 35th streets, one block from the Empire State Building, will be the setting for an afternoon of track and field street action. Proceedings will begin at 12.30 local time with awomen’s pole vault competition featuring USA’s Olympic champion Jenn Suhr.
Approximately two hours later six teams of New York school children aged 9-10 years old will take part in IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics, a series of fun activities which covers the core skills of athletics, ‘run, jump, throw’.
The event will be supported by some of the world’s top athletics stars ‘past and present’ with six of them acting as captains for the teams. The athletes (in alphabetical order) who will be onsite to cheer on the kids will be global champions and medallists Yohan Blake, Maurice Greene, Sally Pearson, Ekaterini Stefanidi, Jenn Suhr and Warren Weir.
Nestlé, which is the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company with 339,000 employees worldwide, became the main sponsor of Kids’ Athletics in January 2012 agreeing a five-year sponsorship with the IAAF.
The IAAF’s objectives for Kids’ Athletics, which has so far been activated in more than 130 of the IAAF’s 212 national Member Federations worldwide, are to make athletics the number one participation sport in schools, promoting a balanced and healthy lifestyle, and attracting the potential sports stars of tomorrow.
Click here for further information about IAAF / Nestlé Kids Athletics
