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Jaguars and United Way Huddle Up for Fun and Fitness!
The Jacksonville Jaguars and United Way of Northeast Florida teamed up for the 9th annual Hometown Huddle at Woodland Acres Boys & Girls Club and Woodland Acres Elementary School to give back to the community and provide a day of fitness to more than 250 Arlington youth.
Over the past eight years, 33 NFL teams have joined local United Ways for Hometown Huddle. During this national day of community service, NFL players put down their shoulder pads and assist people in their communities. On average, more than 300 players, team representatives and their families interact with thousands of people who benefit from United Way support.
This year’s theme, Youth Fitness, conveyed the importance of staying active and healthy. More than 50 volunteers from longstanding corporate partner, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, joined the efforts to promote health and wellness. Research shows that 63 percent of children will be physically inactive by the time they reach high school. Children who are fit have a stronger self-image, more self-confidence, and demonstrate greater improvement in health-related fitness.
Working side by side with youth from Woodland Acres Boys and Girls Club and Full Service Schools of Jacksonville, volunteers and Jaguar players Walter Curry and Kenny Petway helped construct a new, state-of-the-art playground set and provided additional landscaping for the recreational area. Everyone worked together to assemble slides, rake wood chips, and plant flowers around the property. After the playground assembly, the Jaguar players and Roar cheerleaders led the students in field games including sack races, dodge ball and flag football on the Woodland Acres Boys and Girls Club sports field.
In addition to the playground build and through United Way’s Full Service School collaboration, a second group of Jaguar players and volunteers led the Gatorade Junior Training Camp for more than 200 students from the TEAM UP program at Woodland Acres Elementary, which is one of the schools served by the Arlington Full Service Schools Resource Center. This after-school program is funded through the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and provides positive youth development activities for students each week. It is the largest TEAM UP site in Jacksonville. Students participated in a challenge course consisting of four fitness stations and learned first-hand from Jaguars players Clint Ingram and Tony McDaniel the best way to block a tackle, throw a pass and tips on how to stay healthy and active every day.
Taking part in the fun was Jacksonville Jaguars mascot, Jaxson de Ville, who made a special appearance at Woodland Acres Boys and Girls Club and Woodland Acres Elementary. Volunteers partnered with Jaxson de Ville and passed out to the students official Hometown Huddle t-shirts and goodie bags filled with water bottles, Jaguar posters, Blue Cross and Blue Shield hygiene packs and pencils.
“United Way is pleased to be part of this exciting partnership with the NFL and locally the Jacksonville Jaguars,” said Connie Hodges, president of United Way of Northeast Florida. “Hometown Huddle resonates because it’s focused on something every one of us can do—give back to our local community. And especially this year we’re pleased to join the Jaguars in raising awareness about the importance of youth fitness.”
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