Select Health Kicks Off Asthma Awareness Month with Healthy Hoops Charleston Challenge
Coach Cremins leads basketball drills while parents receive asthma education
Charleston, SC
Excitement filled the gym as 64 local children spent the day playing basketball with Coach Bobby Cremins and members of the College of Charleston’s Men’s basketball team for the 2010 Healthy Hoops Charleston Challenge on Saturday, May 1. Healthy Hoops teaches children with asthma how to live healthy, active lifestyles and featured health screenings and assessments courtesy of the South Carolina Asthma Alliance (SCAA).
Parents spent time with asthma educators from SCAA who provided valuable information on the symptoms and treatments for children with asthma. The finale included a mini tournament and provided an opportunity for participants to showcase their newly-honed skills and win tickets to upcoming College of Charleston basketball games.
“We were very excited that so many Lowcountry families joined us in support of the 2010 Healthy Hoops Charleston Challenge,” said Terry Davenport, director of the Community Liaison Department at Select Health. “Healthy Hoops is proof that children with asthma can safely enjoy participating in athletic activity as a way to stay fit and build the foundation for a healthy lifestyle.”
The event took place at Burke High School and included specialized basketball instruction focused on ball handling, shooting, dribbling and passing. Coaches were Bobby Cremins, head coach at the College of Charleston; Val Linley, former women's assistant basketball coach at the College of Charleston; Jermel President, founder of the DAE Foundation, Jimmie Baker, a retired basketball player and former Kentucky Colonels player, and Bill Fox, former head men’s basketball coach, at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, PA.
The Charleston Challenge is just one of the many Healthy Hoops events taking place across the state throughout the year. The Healthy Hoops program, implemented in South Carolina in 2004, is an initiative that teaches children with asthma and their families how to better manage the disease through appropriate medication usage, proper nutrition, monitored exercise and recreational activities.
The Charleston Challenge was also sponsored by the SCAA, AmeriHealth Mercy and the Healthy Hoops Coalition, which includes a host of community partners. For more information on the Healthy Hoops program, call 1-888-HOOPS-SC.
About Select Health
Incorporated in 1995, Select Health was licensed as a Health Maintenance Organization by the South Carolina Department of Insurance in 1996. Later that year, the company contracted with the Department of Health and Human Services to offer First Choice, the state’s first Medicaid health plan. Select Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of AmeriHealth Mercy. The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies touches the lives of more than 6.5 million members nationwide.
About the Healthy Hoops Coalition
The Healthy Hoops® Coalition serves as a steering committee for the Charleston Healthy Hoops Program and includes the following organizations: South Carolina Asthma Alliance, Franklin C. Fetter Family Health Centers, DAE Foundation, Family Connection of South Carolina, American Lung Association, Charleston County Community Education, Youth Empowerment Services, Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, Hoopster’s Heaven, WWWZ Z-93 Jamz, Young Ladies Conquering Obstacles, The South Carolina Society for Respiratory Care, Safe Kids of the Trident Area, SC School Nurses Association, Department of Health and Environmental Control, Palmetto Center for Advocacy, City of Charleston's Recreation Department and the South Carolina Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Astra Zeneca, 21st Century Community Learning Center, Medical University of South Carolina, and Trident Technical College.
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