September 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 106

HERSHEY'S Track & Field Games
Celebrates the 34th Season
youth ages 9-14 representing the
US, Canada, and Puerto Rico came
together August 4-6 for a celebration of
running, jumping, and throwing at the 34th
annual North American Final in Hershey,
Pennsylvania. The celebrating was also
heard in Ogden, Utah, where the Parks and
Recreation Department was announced
the winner of the first HERSHEY'S Track &
Field Play Space!
Qualifying for the North American Final
awards an all-expense-paid trip to Hershey
for the track and field event and includes

plenty of fun, with visits to Hershey's chocolate factory, Hershey Park, and Chocolate
World. It's an experience that offers a lifetime of memories and friendships.

Local Events Increased by 12 Percent
What's most important to the Hershey
Company is engaging local youth and
families in close-to-home physical activity
through local HTFG events. Park and recreation leaders, physical education teachers,
track coaches, and community volunteers
hosted 1,018 local events throughout North
America during the 2011 season-achieving a 12 percent increase from 2010 events.

Environmental Stewardship
Supports New Play Space
New to the program this year was an environmental cause for participants, families,
and communities to support-shoe recycling. HTFG teamed up with the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program to collect worn out
sneakers at 35 state and provincial meets
and the North American Final. More than
3,500 shoes were collected! The recycled
shoes are turned into

Nike Grind and used to make new athletic
and recreation surfaces like tracks, tennis
courts, and playgrounds. Did you know it
takes about 2,500 shoes to make a standard playground surface?
States and provinces that contributed
to the increase in local participation were
in the running to have one of their local
host communities selected for the first
HTFG Play Space Award. The state of Utah
was randomly selected to receive this play
space. They rallied a 154 percent increase
in local participation in 2011.
Fourth Street Park in Ogden, Utah, was
the big winner and will showcase the HTFG
Play Space that includes the first Playtop
Street (interactive surfacing) in the United
States (www.playtopstreet.com). Hershey
gives special thanks to Alydia Barton, Ogden's local organizer and founder of the
Ogden Track Club for her commitment and
leadership to youth activity.

The BIG 35
With a successful close to 2011, HTFG is
already gearing up for the
b ig 3 5 . T h i s
year registration for 2012 local events will
begin October
1, 2011 to better
accommodate
recreation department and
school planning
schedules.

Save the Date
NRPA will host an introductory webinar on October 20 from 2:30-3:30
p.m. to present HTFG 2012 and gather the parks and recreation community to join the longest standing youth
activity program of its kind in North
America. For more information, visit www.hersheystrackandfield.com.

104 Parks & Recreation

SEPTEMBER 2011

www.NRPA .ORG

Dan Kesterson, Youth Runner Magazine

o u r h u n dr e d a n d t h i r t y

September 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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