Spotlight - Governors Council on Physical Fitness and Sports

Park Program In The Spotlight

Anahuak Youth Soccer Association

SILVER MEDALIST

Raul Macías, a successful businessman who came from Mexico 30 years ago, started the non-profit Anahuak Youth Soccer Association ten years ago in northeast Los Angeles to improve academics, health, and leadership through physical activity and places to play. Anahuak helped create the Rio de Los Angeles State Park at Taylor Yard, which opened on Earth Day 2007. As Macías told KTLA news, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHUA1QFLrN0, Anahuak is not about making soccer players, but making good citizens. Macías started Anahuak after neighborhood children asked him to donate $30 for referees and expenses. He agreed if the youths would tell him the results of each game. Macías eventually took over coaching: “They kept losing, week after week. They needed somebody to push them to do things right, to show them how to be winners.”

More Park Programs In The Spotlight

San Mateo

F.R.E.S.H.
SILVER MEDALIST The F.R.E.S.H. Program is grant-funded by Kaiser Hospital at $30,000 per year. It focuses on active living and healthy eating in the young child. In operation at the City of South San Francisco's two licensed preschools, it serves 100 children per day. Activities include age-appropriate nutrition education, sports and fitness, family fun nights, healthy cooking, lunch box packing seminars, parent workshops, gardening activities, and take home activities ... Read More »

San Diego

Outdoor Adventure Program
BRONZE MEDALIST The Lakeside and Spring Valley Teen Centers are prime examples of how Parks and Recreation agencies make a positive difference in the lives of youth. The County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation, through community collaboration, operates the programming at the teen centers. Each center provides positive recreation alternatives and a safe environment for youth ages 10-17. The youth are at-risk of being involved in ... Read More »

Riverside

Riverside Healthy Cities
GOLD MEDALIST The City of Riverside’s Healthy Cities Program has been selected as a finalist for Park and Recreation Program of the Year category for working with the youth in the Eastside community of Riverside to promote physical activity and a healthier lifestyle for themselves and their families. The Healthy Cities after-school program provided alternative physical activities including rock climbing, cage ball and dance led by young Americorp Volunteers; ... Read More »