USAU Reaches Thousands of Kids at Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play
Posted: September 24, 2013 04:50 PM
Boulder, Colo. (Sept. 24, 2013) – Saturday, Sept. 21, was Nickelodeon’s 10th annual Worldwide Day of Play. USA Ultimate partnered with Nickelodeon, along with other sports organizations including the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the U.S. Tennis Association and other partners groups, to promote ultimate and provide activities for the celebration. The event also featured concerts and cameos from some of Nickelodeon’s biggest stars. Ryan Newman stopped by the USA Ultimate booth to learn about ultimate and throw with some other participants.
The USA Ultimate booth, staffed by members of the USA Ultimate headquarters staff and volunteers from league affiliate DiscNY as well as others from all across the state, was busy all day teaching the crowd of mostly elementary-school-aged kids the basics of the game as well as how to throw and catch. Kids could chat with coaches to get pointers on their backhands and flicks, practice throwing on the miniature field or check their speed at the radar booth. "The look in each child’s face as they quickly improved their skills was way more than priceless," said USA Ultimate CEO Tom Crawford.
Each year, Nickelodeon blacks out programming on all their networks for several hours to encourage kids to get outside and play on their designated Worldwide Day of Play. The tenth anniversary was marked with a hallmark event in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s, Prospect Park where over 35,000 kids and parents gathered to celebrate getting active and staying healthy. Overall, an estimated 50,000 kids participated in Worldwide Day of Play events organized around the globe.
Nickelodeon is the number one entertainment brand for kids. USA Ultimate was excited to partner with Nickelodeon and take advantage of an important opportunity to expose ultimate to kids and parents who have, so far, been unfamiliar with the sport. It was an important chance to introduce ultimate to a wider audience and further one of the goals in the current USA Ultimate strategic plan: to grow youth, college and league ultimate.
"Partnering with organizations like Nickelodeon, the most trusted brand for parents, is one of the most effective ways our sport can take leaps forward in terms of recruiting participants who have never played before," explains USA Ultimate Manager of Education & Youth Programs Mike Lovinguth. "If we can continue to partner with organizations like Nick, more and more parents will start to trust ultimate and look to enroll their kids in programs with local disc organizations. As the sport continues to grow, we as a community we need to start figuring out what additional playing opportunities for kids look like. They may be different than traditional seven-on-seven games, but we need to find a way to incorporate more elementary- and middle-school kids when they are most excited about ultimate."
USA Ultimate would like to extend a big thanks to DiscNY and all the volunteers who helped create such a great environment in Prospect Park, allowing hundreds of kids and parents to learn about ultimate and get out and play in conjunction with Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play.
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