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Hershey Program recognizes Illinois' participation
Rafer Johnson (right), Olympic decathlon champion and national spokesman for the Hershey Youth Program, meets with Ted Flickinger, executive director of the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD), and Kay Forest, executive director of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association (IPRA).
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Approximately 75 coaches and park/recreation directors from throughout Illinois who are active in the Hershey Track and Field Program were honored recently during a luncheon in Springfield.
The Hershey Foods Corporation, in cooperation with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, sponsors the annual track and field event for youngsters between the ages of nine and 14.
Rafer Johnson, Olympic gold medalist and program spokesman, stresses that the Hershey program is "more than a track and field meet."
"It emphasizes the friendship, sportsmanship and physical exercise aspects of track and field as much as, if not more than, competition," Johnson explains.
"I tell the kids, 'Be the best that you can be on the field, in the classroom, at home and to others in your community.'
"The Hershey competition is not just an athletic opportunity," he says. "It gives kids the balance they need."
The program begins every spring when local park and recreation departments nationwide arrange qualifying trials, attracting and introducing participants to the program. Local winners advance to district meets which are held in late May or early June.
Winners in these district meets compete in a State final during June or July, and state winners are eligible for selection to regional teams which receive all-expense-paid trips to the program's national final in August at Hershey, PA.
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