Families, Parks and Recreation
Press
Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Heather Allebaugh (407)
246.3423
Victoria Shade (407)
246.4318
Parramore Kidz Zone
Youth Win Football Championship
Parramore Kidz Zone’s “PKZ Bearz”
football team won first place in the Southeastern
Offense/Defense Football Classic. Teams from both
Florida and Georgia participated in this championship at
West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida on
November 27 and 28, 2008. The win came after placing
first among central Florida teams, and then the Bearz
went on to beat the top ranking Georgia team. This is
the Bearz first year in the league, and they have
already set an unprecedented record by winning their
first ten games in a row.
Bearz player Lorenzo
Jones said, “I get picked on because I am playing on the
team, but I know if it wasn't for football I would be
dead or in jail. Football has saved my life. It feels
good to be winning.”
By engaging them in positive
structured activities, coaches train the team while
serving as role models offering encouragement and
guidance for the youth of Parramore. Participants are
provided for uniforms, athletic shoes, sports physicals,
equipment, refreshments, tournament fees, coaching and
travel to tournaments throughout the State.
The
PKZ Bearz were created as part of the City’s Parramore
Kidz Zone by Coach Tobias Shinn of Community Concepts
Services, Inc. (CCSI). CCSI is one of many community
partners who have received grants under the PKZ project.
CCSI administers intervention services geared towards
meeting the needs of neighborhood families by teaching
life skills, leadership, anger-management, self-esteem
and empowerment to help them make a healthy transition
to adulthood.
Modeled after the Harlem Children’s
Zone, Parramore Kidz Zone employs creative outreach to
engage a critical mass of Parramore’s children and
linking them to positive opportunities, including
pre-kindergarten education, parenting education, health
care, mentoring, tutoring, and constructive activities
when school is out.
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