By Marilyn Lau
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee reaches out to Utah’s at-risk youth by giving them an Olympic experience.
The Street to Sports program invites youth to participate in simulated winter sports, pre-Game sporting events, and enrollment of other SLOC youth programs, according to www.saltlake2002.com, the official Web site of the Winter 2002 Olympic games.
Street to Sports works with non-profit organizations such as Salt Lake Recreation, Boy’s and Girl’s Club and LDS Social Services, said Bob Bills, director of Youth Programs for SLOC.
Over 10,000 youth have already participated in the program, Bills said.
Children who show promise and interest in Olympic events are sent to training clinics. For those who are unable to pay for this training, Delta Airlines will cover transportation and entrance fees, Bills said.
It’s an exciting program for children because they are exposed to sports they would not otherwise be exposed to, said Allison Barclay from Salt Lake City’s Boy’s and Girl’s Club.
Children at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club have participated in speedskating, cross-country skiing and bobsledding with professional athletes, Barclay said.
The Olympic events youth can participate in include luge, bobsled, skeleton, aerial skiing and nordic jumping. No experience is necessary for luge, bobsled and skeleton. However, children need to have skiing experience for the aerial skiing and nordic jumping.
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