National Press Release

National Youth Organization Young Champions Quietly Expands National Footprint Making a Difference in the Lives of Children

Building Skills for Life Through Communities and Schools

PHOENIX, Ariz. – September 29th, 2009 – Young Champions, one of the nation’s largest and most progressive youth recreation-instruction organizations, with programs in 16 states teaching more than 75,000 students, announced today that it has successfully penetrated the Texas market with a strong presence in Houston. This 2009 milestone marks the sixteenth state that Young Champions operates within. Uniquely, Young Champions aligns closely with school districts as part of their Community Education Programs and with other non-profit organizations as such has become a formidable agent for impacting youth in the communities in which it operates.

Young Champions, with affiliates across 16 states, began as a family business in 1958 with founder and matriarch, Bonnie Hood, teaching Baton and Twirling using an innovative model of partnering with school districts. The program grew over the following decades with family members branching into different states and expanding the programs to include Karate, Dance, Cheer and Soccer. Young Champions operates based on the mission “to provide high quality youth programs which help children build skills for life.” Young Champions employs almost 1000 staff between office staff and instructors and reaches more than 75,000 youth through its programs. Young Champions will continue to expand its reach as appropriate and consistent with its goal for maintaining high quality programs.

“We are committed to offering the highest quality youth programs at the lowest possible cost while giving back to our communities,” said Rory Hood, president of Young Champions of America which operates five states, AZ, TX ,KS, MO and NE. “We are pleased to add Texas to our national footprint and continue to be inspired by the opportunity for growth with our organization.”

Within the context of its multi-faceted programs, Young Champions has also established itself as a leader in safety awareness for youth. Along with general safety awareness topics such as water, fire, internet, and bully safety; Young Champions has pioneered Project S.A.F.E. Shield, a systematic process and program for educating parents and youth on abduction prevention.Taught extensively through its Karate programs, S.A.F.E. Shield is also integrated within its other programs. “We recognized an opportunity early on to use the breadth of our programs as a delivery vehicle to teach safety awareness,” said Kraig Hollingworth, vice president of Young Champions of America and author of the Project S.A.F.E. Shield program. “We are passionate about the need to prepare our youth, and the scope of our program gives us the unique opportunity to make a real difference. Although child abductions are rare, we feel it only takes one, and one is too many!”