February 20, 2019
Los Angeles, CA – Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) received a grant to introduce field hockey to over 1,000 children and their families in Head Start programs across Northern Los Angeles County.
The grant was awarded to the nonprofit by USA Field Hockey Grant Program sponsored by Citibank and Harrow – a leading Field Hockey equipment manufacture. FUNdamental Field Hockey is USA Field Hockey’s youth development initiative designed to expose field hockey to thousands of children nationwide by providing free field hockey equipment and emphasizing fun physical activity! Each Head Start preschool received 26 new sticks, balls, orange cones and a sport bag.
Teachers and students are being trained on the basics of the sport and safety practices. Playing field hockey promotes increased motor function and hand-to-eye coordination, encourages a team environment, and provides fun, structured play. The program introduces important and enduring life skills for developing young minds.
“Field hockey is a relatively unknown sport in the United States, yet it’s the second largest team sport in the World. Universities across the United States offer many scholarships to qualifying students, especially young women. Our hope is that the talents attained from this sport will follow our Head Start students through their education and into their life,” says Roger Gagnon, CCRC’s Vice President & Chief Information Officer, who introduced the program to the agency.
A special thank you to Mr. Gagnon and his stepsons, Michael and Noah Mendoza, who both play on the Men’s National Team, for their time and effort. They helped build 26 hockey kits and spent hours demonstrating field hockey and educating hundreds of Head Start staff.
CCRC strongly believes that children learn, discover and build confidence through play. In addition to this new venture in our Head Start program, we demonstrate the importance of play at four large scale family events that we host annually drawing over 20,000 children and families to participate.
