Thursday, April 24, 2014

PPL Park play host to Chester 3rd and 4th graders

The Chester Upland Soccer for Success Program, an after-school youth development program that uses soccer as a tool to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles for underserved students, will host Play Day at PPL Park on Tuesday, April 29. 

Between 100 and 140 third and fourth grade students in the program will participate in a round-robin soccer tournament in the plaza area just outside of the stadium, and each team will be given a tour of the stadium and have team photos taken on the Union playing field.


What:             Soccer for Success Play Day
Who:               Soccer for Success Program participants, their families and community partners
When:             Tuesday, April 29
                        3:30 to 5 p.m.
Where:           PPL Park
One Stadium Drive
Chester, PA 19013

Details:  Of the students participating in the program during the 2012-13 year, 72 percent improved or maintained their BMI (body mass index) percentile, 57 percent improved or maintained their aerobic capacity, and 68 percent decreased or maintained waist circumference.

The U.S. Soccer Foundation selected Widener University to receive a $200,000 grant over two years to operate Soccer for Success. The program began last year with 350 participants in three locations and has expanded to nearly 500 students in seven locations including: Drexel Neumann Academy, Stetser Elementary and the Widener Partnership Charter School, Chester Community Charter School (East and West), Chester Charter School for the Arts and Frederick Douglas Christian School.


The program is the result of collaborations between Widener’s Athletic Department, the School of Nursing, the Widener Center for Violence Prevention and the Widener student-led group Northern Star Sports in addition to the Philadelphia Union, the Chester Youth Collaborative as an affiliated organization of Crozer-Keystone Health Systems, the William Trippley Youth Development Foundation, Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer, Aramark, Angelo’s Soccer Corner and Health Partners Plans.

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