Nation's Largest Amateur Track and Field Series Marks Banner Year
Brooklyn, NY - The Colgate Women's Games, the nation's largest amateur track series,
will begin its 35th anniversary season on Friday, December 26th at Brooklyn's Pratt
Institute. More than 11,000 young female athletes, in divisions ranging from elementary
school age through 30s +, will compete in the weekly preliminary events throughout
January for the chance to qualify for the Madison Square Garden finals on Saturday,
January 31st.
"The Games have weathered all types of economic and social climates for three and
a half decades now," said meet director and Games founder Fred Thompson. "We're
seeing second and third generation Games athletes compete. We're most touched when
past athletes return to tell us what a positive impact the Games had on their lives."
Seventeen former Olympians and hundreds of national champions have competed in the
Games, which aim to provide girls and young women a means of developing self-esteem
and confidence.
The Colgate Women's Games also instill the importance of educational achievement.
All participants are required to submit their school attendance records along with
an essay on a peer related topic. Each week, participants have the opportunity
to win numerous ribbons and medals. In addition, finalists are awarded trophies
and educational grants-in-aid from Colgate-Palmolive Company.
"The Colgate Women's Games are one of the gold standards of women's sports. They
provide young women with the opportunity to compete at the highest level and an
extraordinary development opportunity that extends far beyond the track and field.
The Women's Sports Foundation applauds Colgate-Palmolive, a company who has stood
tall for girls and women in sports for nearly four decades and whose vision has
come to represent the very essence of our mission: to advance the lives of girls
and women through sports," said Women's Sports Foundation CEO Karen Durkin.
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