It’s been another great year for the AFH Fit program! AFH Fit encompasses all of the charitable work that AFH members perform in the physical fitness space, including key partners Active Schools, Marathon Kids, and Power Up. This year, there were 132 AFH Fit Visits between these programs. There were 51 visits to 28 different Active Schools, 57 visits to 25 different Marathon Kids clubs, and 24 visits to 3 different Power Up Programs. Forty-six athletes visited AFH Fit programs representing USATF, USA Skiing, Skateboarding, NWSL, NFL, NBA, NHL, WTA, and Softball. The visits took place in 31 different markets ranging from Philadelphia, PA to Phoenix, AZ to Seattle, WA to many more cities in between.
Our AFH U teams were very involved with AFH Fit visits this year. Eight teams from three different schools visited Active Schools, Marathon Kids, or partook in Community Events. In Lansing, Michigan State Field Hockey did twelve Active School visits between two schools and Michigan State Men’s Soccer did nine Active School Visits. In Baton Rouge, LSU Volleyball did six Active School and one Marathon Kids visit and LSU Swim and Dive took part in a Community Event. Also in Baton Rouge, Southern University Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, and SAAC all took part in an AFH Fit visit.
This year, AFH Fit partnered with Marathon Kids for the first time. AFH members engaged with Marathon Kids via in-person visits and online engagements. Many of the in-person visits were running sessions or special events speakers session. Often times, running sessions occurred during recurring visits. For example, Shannon Boxx of the USWNT visited West Tualatin Elementary School three months in a row to host running sessions. The online engagement occurred as a part of the Amplify Austin fundraising campaign. It was spearheaded by Sanya Richards-Ross of USATF visiting the Marathon Kids run-a-thon.