Darrin Horn and Dawn Staley help Asthmatic Kids get off the Bench and on the Court
Coaches participated in Select Health's 2010 Healthy Hoops Midlands Challenge
Columbia, SC
On Saturday, June 5, asthmatic children from the Midlands proved that asthma is a manageable disease during the 2010 Healthy Hoops Midlands Challenge. The event, sponsored by Select Health of South Carolina, took place at Greenview Park and uses basketball to teach participants and their families how to control asthma through appropriate medication usage, proper nutrition and monitored exercise. Healthy Hoops included expert basketball coaching, free health screenings and health education for parents.
“It was great to see so many families in the Midlands participate in the 2010 Healthy Hoops Challenge,” said Terry Davenport, director of Select Health's Community Liaison Department. “Asthma can be very scary for children and their parents. Healthy Hoops is a perfect way for children and their families to realize, first hand, that asthma doesn’t have to be scary or prevent participation in athletic activity.”
University of South Carolina Men’s Basketball Coach, Darrin Horn, and University of South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach, Dawn Staley, attended the event and led drills focused on ball handling, shooting, dribbling and passing. In addition to Coaches Horn and Staley, basketball legend, Bill Fox, former head men’s basketball coach, at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, PA and Debbie Stroman, head girls coach at Lower Richland High School were on hand to provide coaching and basketball tips.
The Midlands Challenge is one of many Healthy Hoops events taking place in South Carolina this year. The Healthy Hoops Midlands Challenge was also sponsored by the South Carolina Asthma Alliance (SCAA), AmeriHealth Mercy and the Healthy Hoops Coalition, which includes a host of community partners. For more information on upcoming Healthy Hoops activities, visit www.selecthealthofsc.com or 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 Midlands Healthy Hoops Program and includes the following organizations: South Carolina Asthma Alliance; American Lung Association; Benedict College Athletics Department; Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands; City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department; DHEC-Office of Minority Health; Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers; Safe Kids of the Midlands, Family Connection of South Carolina; Harmony; KISS 103.1; Midlands Technical College; Palmetto Healthy Start; Richland County School District One; First Kids Dental; South Carolina Association of School Nurses; South Carolina Society of Allergy Asthma and Immunology; South Carolina Society for Respiratory Care.
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