World Sport Chicago unites kids with Olympic and Paralympic athletes

On a warm August day at a Chicago Park District swimming pool, not terribly far from the southern Chicago suburb of Tinley Park where she grew up, U.S. swimmer Christine Magnuson found herself facing a group of kids who not only looked at her as a role model, but also as a teacher. It was exactly the kind of moment Magnuson didn’t have as a child.

“Growing up, I don’t remember meeting an Olympian, at least a swimmer—no, not any Olympian,” Magnuson said. “These kinds of events didn’t really exist.”

They do now.

As all of Chicago — and the rest of the United States — eagerly awaits word on Friday to find out whether it wins its bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a group called World Sport Chicago has been hard at work bringing Olympians and Paralympians to the city for the past few years.

In partnership with national governing bodies for various sports and sponsors, World Sport Chicago has created a series of innovative programs that have allowed thousands of inner-city youth to get up close and personal with Olympic athletes in a way they never have before.

So whether Chicago wins the 2016 bid on Friday or loses, the city has already been a victor when it comes to the future of sports in the city.

“As a part of the bid, we wanted to make sure we were creating sports programs for kids in the city,” said World Sport Chicago executive director Scott Myers, a 25-year resident of Chicago who is a part of Chicago 2016’s travel team to Copenhagen, where the International Olympic Committee will vote to determine the host city of the Games.

Magnuson, a two-time Olympic medalist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, was at the Chicago camps along with three Olympic gold medalist swimmers: Matt Grevers and Megan Jendrick and Peter Vanderkaay. The sessions, also a part of Arluck Promotions’ Fitter & Faster Tour, involved the swimmers talking not only about their sport, but also about young people setting goals for themselves.

“We loved working with the kids,’’ Magnuson said. “I feel like I really relate to these kids. There are always one or two that really get excited at your story. I always look for that.”

“She has seen it first-hand,” said Myers, adding that many of the Olympians or Paralympians might even be humbled by the impact they have on the thousands of kids who attend World Sport Chicago camps and events.

An intended expansion of the program depends heavily on the 2016 host city. If Chicago wins the bid over Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, World Sport Chicago hopes to expand to 50 cities over the next seven years, Myers said. Already, pilot programs are in the works for six other Midwest cities: Indianapolis, Louisville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City and St. Louis. A summit was held last week among mayors of those cities to begin the process.

If Chicago does not win the bid, Myers said, any expansion might have to be considerably smaller.
 
But still, the initiative will continue.

“World Sport Chicago would continue to be in Chicago,” he said. “It may be very difficult to expand without the Olympic Games.”

Arlene Limas, an Olympic champion in taekwondo and a member of the Chicago 2016 Athlete Advisory Committee, says that is where Washington D.C.’s bid for 2012 fell short.

“We really felt like we had nothing to give back to the community,” said Limas, who served on Washington’s bid’s executive committee. “That’s what I think is so great about Chicago’s bid is no matter what happens, they will have a lasting legacy.”

The success of World Sport Chicago has quickly spread into multiple sports. Many of them are Olympic sports, such as team handball, that aren’t usually sponsored at public high schools. Some of the participating kids may not have even done sports previously. “It lifts their spirits,” Myers said.

It is an ambitious initiative that is scoring high marks.

“They already started fencing, started intense coaching, sports clinics, they are starting a team handball circuit,’’ Limas said. “So they are taking Olympic sports that aren’t really being played, and exposing them to the inner-city kids.’’

Limas, who won a gold medal in the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, got started in sports through similar park programs when she was growing up in Chicago. She went to Chicago’s Walt Disney Magnet School, Whitney Young High School (the same school as First Lady Michelle Obama) and DePaul University, and knows first-hand about Chicago and its passion for sports.

The Tyson Fitness Challenge in the Chicago Parks District, which has attracted more than 4,000 kids to gymnastics programs, was a joint effort between World Sports Chicago and USA Gymnastics. Olympic champion Dominique Dawes, who was part of the “Magnificent Seven’’ U.S. gymnastics team in 1996 in Atlanta and Peter Vidmar, an Olympic gold medalist in the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games were part of a World Sports Chicago video project.

“As the living legacy of Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, World Sport Chicago’s mission is to increase the accessibility of sport to Chicago’s youth,” World Sports Chicago chairman Bill Scherr said in a USA Gymnastics news release.

Interest keeps growing. USA Team Handball has been targeted by World Sports Chicago to begin handball programs at two high schools on Chicago’s West Side.

“We’re excited about that project,” said Steve Pastorino, general manager of USA Team Handball. “Programs like that are examples of the attention sports get in a time like this.”

USA Gymnastics and USA Badminton, among several Olympic sports groups, have been involved in new programs addressing youth. World Sports Chicago has been in contact with professional sports teams, including the Chicago Red Stars, a women’s soccer team that has six Olympians on its roster.

“World Sport Chicago has done an excellent job of connecting Chicago's bid efforts back to the U.S. Olympic Family," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "One of the most exciting legacies of the bid will be the renewed relationship between Chicago and the NGBs. World Sport Chicago has been the catalyst.”

Several programs have been held at Chicago Park District facilities and within the Chicago Public Schools system.

One of the most unique aspects of the World Sports Chicago program was that it partnered with USA Paralympics and 10 other agencies to create the Paralympic Center of Excellence. The first of its kind in the country, the Center has been designed to provide people who are visually and physically impaired with highly trained coaches and resources so they can get involved in Paralympic sports.

In addition, World Sports Chicago has created an athletes ambassador program which helps connects athletes with kids. One of its biggest events was held June 23 when an Olympics Day paired athletes with youngsters in 177 cities.

And a yet-to-be-announced Urban Youth Sports Institute will bring in the University of Illinois, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Northeastern Illinois, as well as the University of Chicago, into a project studying youth violence and how sports participation may decrease those levels.

But the beginnings of World Sport Chicago were not always so smooth. When World Sports Chicago first began, questions surfaced, Myers said.

“What is World Sport Chicago?’’ Myers said he was asked. “I’ve never heard of it. Why are you doing this now?”

The reason was that the people behind the bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Chicago wanted to put something in place before the Games were held in the city instead of waiting until afterward. The organization, which includes former Olympic wrestler Scherr as chairman and Michael Conley, a gold medalist triple jumper and a Chicagoan, as president, has been hoping to create a lasting legacy for Olympic and Paralympic sports in the Windy City.

What still plays big in all of these plans, of course, is the IOC vote on Friday.

“This has been a long journey over the three years,” Myers said. “Friday, hopefully, is just another checkpoint on that journey.”
 
Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.

Tags: Arlene Limas, Bill Scherr, Chicago 2016, Chicago Red Stars, Dominique Dawes, Matt Grevers, Michael Conley, Peter Vidmar, Scott Myers, Steve Pastorino, Steve Penny, USA Badminton, USA Handball, World Sport Chicago