Conference USA Donates Sportswear to Poor Youth Sports Leagues

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Conference USA (C-USA), a leading NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference, has donated quality apparel to youth sports leagues implemented by Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization.

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C-USA's gift includes baseball hats, T-shirts and other sports apparel that will be provided to poor youth  in the Philippines and Honduras  who cannot afford life's basic necessities – much less specialty clothing. C-USA, which promotes excellence in athletics academics, and community outreach, hopes its contribution will help encourage positive self-esteem for youth at risk of involving themselves in activities pervasive in slums, such as gangs and drugs.

"I am grateful to Conference USA for providing our teen athletes with a sense of pride and self. Just as winning is important in sports, winning is important in life, and that's what Conference USA is helping to provide for poor youth around the world," said Children International President and CEO Jim Cook.

Children International's youth will utilize the new sportswear while participating in the organization's sports program called Game On! The program provides a positive environment for athletes to succeed on and off the field. In an outdoor classroom setting, Game On! offers youth an opportunity to learn and play a sport while gaining valuable life skills. Participants learn teamwork, leadership, responsibility, critical thinking and discipline through weekly practices and weekend competition.

Implemented in 2009, Game On! offers youth the opportunity to play in basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball leagues. The program allows youth to focus on having fun and challenging themselves through physical and mental exercise.  Currently more than four countries have adopted league play with more than 500 youth athletes.

About Children International:

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International's programs help more than 335,000 children and their families in 11 countries around the world including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org.

CONFERENCE USA:

Conference USA (C-USA) is a NCAA Division I-A Conference based in Irving, Texas. The Conference was first established in 1995 and its current membership consists of 12 schools – East Carolina University, University of Houston, Marshall University, University of Memphis, Rice University, Southern Methodist University (SMU), University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University, University of Tulsa, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), University of Central Florida (UCF) and University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). This realignment was formed on July 1, 2005. Conference USA sponsors 20 sports, 11 for women and nine for men's student-athletes.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dolores Quinn Kitchin
Public Relations
Children International
Direct:  (816) 943-3730
Cell:  (816) 718-0711
Email:  [email protected]
https://twitter.com/ci_doloresk

SOURCE Children International