In 2004, The 100 Black Men of the Bay Area sponsored the first annual Tommie Smith Youth Track Meet. This event was a huge success. Less than 400 youth were expected at the inaugural meet. However, over 750 children from around the Bay Area (most from Oakland) participated and over 100 were turned away. No children from target schools participated in the first meet. One of the goals established was to send strong teams from both schools to the 2005 Tommie Smith Youth Track Meet.

 

 

Program

The 100 Black Men of the Bay Area propose to develop a two-prong fitness pilot program in two East Bay elementary schools (both kindergarten through 5th grade), one school is in Oakland and the other is in Richmond, California. The first component is a daily program that targets all of the children during school, throughout the school year. A physical activity program based on the Fitnessgram will be implemented into each school's physical education curriculum. Assisted by parent assistant coaches, a physical education instructor will lead the children in stretching, exercises and movement for at least 25 minutes each day. The fitness programs of each school will be tailored to accommodate their respective curricula and schedules. For example, at Hoover, the kindergarteners and 1st through 2nd graders will exercise following lunch from 11:55 am to 12:20 pm; while 3rd through 5th graders will exercise from 12:45 pm through 1:10 pm.

The second component is an after school program that will feature athletic training and the formation of a track & field team.

Track & field training will be held year round, and will lead to Bay Area wide competition with other schools and track clubs. Each member of the track club, the Hoover Hawks and the Nystrom Eagles, will join the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) or the Pacific Association of USA Track & Field. Initially, a team of fifty students will be recruited at each school. Over time as additional resources (funding for equipment and staff) are located, additional students from each school will be identified by school faculty/staff and encouraged to join the track club. An emphasis will be on strengthening aerobic capacity in the children.

The 100 Black Men of the Bay Area will organize and sponsor a series of athletic clinics in 2005. The clinic will be held on Saturday and will last three hours. The day will begin with breakfast followed by a half-hour "life skills" discussion. Track practice will follow, and several Olympians/world class athletes have agreed to conduct a specialty clinic for our students and coaches. The track & field season will culminate with the Tommie Smith Youth Track Meet, at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The students are bused to all of the athletic clinics and track meets.