Gillette [PG] and EA SPORTS(TM), a label of Electronic Arts Inc., announced the Second Annual “Gillette – EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Tournament on Xbox 360,” the world’s largest multi-sport online gaming competition that pits gamers from around the globe against each other, and ultimately for the winners, against some of the biggest names in the world of sports, including Gillette Champion Tiger Woods.

The Tournament, which attracted more than 350,000 gamers last year, begins on November 18, 2009 and runs through February 14, 2010. Gamers will be able to compete against other gamers on Xbox LIVE, the world’s premier online gaming and entertainment service, within their geographical region on several EA SPORTS titles including – Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 10, EA SPORTS(TM) FIFA Soccer 10, Madden NFL 10, NHL® 10 and Fight Night Round 4. Winners on each title will have the chance to be crowned a Gillette – EA SPORTS Champion of Gaming at the Final Event in March 2010. At the Tournament Finals, Gillette Champion Tiger Woods, as well as other sports superstars*, are scheduled to take on one of the five Gillette – EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming participants in an EA SPORTS title — with the winner claiming ultimate bragging rights.

“Last year, our match came down to the final shot. I’ve been practicing and I am ready to take another crack at this year’s best player,” said Tiger Woods.

The Champions of Gaming Tournament is a global skill-based tournament in which participants compete against other players on the online Xbox LIVE gaming platform to determine winners. The global tournament will consist of one (1) nine (9) part qualification round and one (1) knockout round in three regions — North America; Europe and Asia-Pacific. The regional champions of each title will then face-off against each other and compete for the opportunity to play against the sports superstars at the global final event.

“We’re excited to once again provide gamers from around the world the opportunity to face off on some of our most popular EA SPORTS games through the Champions of Gaming Tournament on Xbox LIVE,” said Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS. “What continues to make this tournament truly stand out from other gaming tournaments is the extraordinary chance to compete face-to-face against Tiger Woods and other sports superstars.”

“Last year, we created the world’s largest multi-sport gaming tournament and this year, we are looking to make it even bigger,” said Peter Clay, Vice President, Gillette Grooming. “We expect even more participants as the gamers play for the ultimate prize – a one-on-one match against some of the top names in sports.”

To compete in the Gillette – EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Tournament, gamers must have the following:

– a valid e-mail address
– access to a Microsoft Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system
– the EA SPORTS video game in which the player is competing (see titles above)
– a valid EA SPORTS account in good standing
– a valid Xbox LIVE Gold Member account
– a valid Windows Live ID with their Xbox LIVE Gamertag linked

All players must be in good standing on xbox.com and the Xbox LIVE online service. To obtain an Xbox LIVE account, Windows Live ID or Xbox LIVE Gamertag, access www.xbox.com and follow the applicable instructions. To obtain an EA Account, access www.ea.com and follow the applicable instructions.

For complete details on how to enter and full tournament rules visit www.easports.com/gillette or www.gillette.com/easports2010.

Source: Gillette

“Giving back is the right thing to do,” said Hollis Cavner, tournament director. “We’ve received such tremendous support from fans and corporate partners over the past 17 years. We are thrilled that we have an opportunity to say thank you and provide this free gift to golf fans.”

“3M and its employees are thrilled to be part of this first in golf,” said Bob MacDonald, senior vice president, marketing, 3M. “The 3M Championship has a long history of bringing firsts to the game of golf and today’s announcement is another example of the tournament’s continuing innovation.”

The 3M Championship is a golf tournament on the Champions Tour – a series of annual PGA TOUR golf events for golfers 50 years of age and older. The 3M Championship is played at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Twin Cities, a course designed by professional golfer and golf course designer, Arnold Palmer. Joining Palmer at the 2009 3M Championship will be some of golf’s greats including Fred Funk, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hal Sutton and more.

The 3M Championship consistently ranks as one of the top Champions Tour events for crowds and charitable giving. Last year, the 3M Championship was voted the No.1 event on the Champions Tour by the players, earning the coveted Champions Tour Players Award.

The purse for the 2009 3M Championship tournament is $1.75 million with $262,500 going to the winner. The tournament was founded in 1993 as the Burnet Senior Classic.

The first round of 2009 championship play begins Friday, July 10. On Saturday, July 11, the Greats of Golf Challenge begins along with the second round of championship play. The week concludes on Sunday, July 12, with the final round of the Greats of Golf Challenge and the final round of the 3M Championship.

More information about the 3M Championship is available at www.3MChampionship.com.

This year will see the USA Eagles, Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, Argentina Jaguars and Georgia play doubleheaders at Infinity Park in Glendale – the first municipally-owned rugby-specific stadium in North America – on June 6, 10 and 14.

These pool stages will be followed by a tripleheader finals day at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer side, on June 21.

“The Churchill Cup continues to be a valuable part of our international season, offering top class international competition, as well as allowing us to showcase international rugby to new audiences in the United States,” said Nigel Melville, Chief Executive Officer of USA Rugby.

“We are delighted to play at two great facilities in Infinity Park and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. This will give the Churchill Cup and rugby in general a great platform in a wonderful sporting city and help us achieve our objective to grow the sport.”

Mike Dunafon, Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Glendale, said: “We are proud to host the Churchill Cup pool matches in Glendale. It has been our vision to bring international rugby competitions to Glendale and the metropolitan Denver area. We look forward to showcasing Infinity Park.”

Terry Burwell, Churchill Cup Tournament Director, added: “The Churchill Cup goes from strength to strength and is now established in the international rugby calendar.”

“This will be the seventh Churchill Cup and we are pleased to add Denver and Glendale to the eight other cities in Canada and the USA who have hosted the tournament since it started in 2003. With the tournament being based solely in one state for the first time we hope that we can build a following throughout the pool stages, culminating in a bumper crowd on finals day.”

KieAnn Brownell, President of the Metro Denver Sports Commission, added: “We believe that rugby fits strategically with our overall objectives and is a sport that our city will embrace and support. We also feel that we can provide significant value to the Churchill Cup both in terms of building the brand and growing the sport in Denver and the U.S.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Senior Director of Venue Operations Allison Hamilton concluded: “We are very excited about our role in hosting the Churchill Cup during its first time to be played in Colorado. Between Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and Infinity Park, rugby fans will have an opportunity to experience this wonderful event in two world-class facilities.”

The 2008 Churchill Cup finals were played at Toyota Park in Chicago and attracted more than 9,000 fans. In front of a bumper crowd, the England Saxons beat Scotland A 36-19 to retain the main trophy, while Ireland A and Canada won the Plate and Bowl with 33-8 and 26-10 victories over Argentina A and USA, respectively. In 2009, Georgia has replaced Scotland A from last year’s line-up.

Tickets for Churchill Cup matches will be on sale to the public starting on Friday, May 1, at 10am for as little as $15 and are available online at http://www.tickethorse.com/EventDetail.aspx?eid=260&vid=7 or via phone by calling 1-866-461-6556.

The games will be broadcast live on SkySports in the UK and Setanta in North America.

Churchill Cup 2009

Pool A
Canada
Georgia
Ireland A

Pool B
Argentina Jaguars
England Saxons
USA

Fixtures (kick off times local)
Saturday June 6
Infinity Park, Glendale
England Saxons v Argentina Jaguars (2.15pm)
Canada v Georgia (4.30pm)

Wednesday June 10
Infinity Park, Glendale
Canada v Ireland A (4.30pm)
USA v Argentina Jaguars (7pm)

Sunday June 14
Infinity Park, Glendale
USA v England Saxons (1pm)
Georgia v Ireland A (3.30pm)

Sunday June 21
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Churchill Cup finals (12.05pm, 2.30pm, 4.45pm)

Churchill Cup background

The Churchill Cup is an alliance between the English Rugby Football Union (RFU), Rugby Canada and USA Rugby.

The tournament was launched in 2003 and aims to develop and grow the sport of rugby union across Canada and the USA.

It is named after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who shared close ties with the United States – his mother was American – and with Canada during the Second World War.

With support from the International Rugby Board, as part of their Rugby World Cup-funded strategic initiatives, the tournament has grown in success since 2003 when 5,000 people attended to watch the three Alliance nations in Vancouver.

In 2008, when the tournament was played in Canada and the USA, the finals day in Chicago attracted almost 9,000 spectators.

Since its introduction, both men’s and women’s teams from England, the USA and Canada have participated although since 2005 it has been a men only event.

Invitational sides from Argentina, Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand have all participated, while there was also a women’s competition in 2003 and 2004.

www.churchillcuprugby.net

Source: Infinity Park

With the 2009 NCAA men’s basketball tournament heating up, the National College Players Association (NCPA), formerly known as the Collegiate Athletes Coalition (CAC), released results of another significant study revealing the estimated shortfall between college athletes’ full scholarships and the actual cost of attendance at each Division I university.

The NCPA asserts that, by and large, universities have been deceiving recruits, many of whom are under the age of 18 and from disadvantaged backgrounds, into unknowingly being responsible for paying thousands of dollars while on “full” athletic scholarship.

“The fact is, coaches fill high school recruits’ heads with promises of free rides and full scholarships, when in fact no such things exist. The NCAA designs full scholarships to fall short of the advertised price tag of a school, leaving recruits scrambling to make ends meet,” stated United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard.

NCAA rules prohibit universities from providing athletic scholarships that equal the cost of attendance. That means that a full scholarship athlete is expected to pay out of pocket for expenses that are not covered by a full scholarship.

“It’s deceptive to call it a ‘full’ athletics scholarship when it doesn’t fully pay for a university’s estimated price tag. These same universities offer ‘full’ academic scholarships that do cover the price tag of a school. This appears to be a deliberate attempt at misleading young high school student-athletes, their parents, and current college athletes,” stated NCPA President Ramogi Huma.

The NCPA partnered with Ellen J. Staurowsky, a professor of sport management and graduate chair of the department at Ithaca College in New York, to calculate the estimated scholarship shortfall at every Division I university that offers athletic scholarships.

Staurowsky stated, “The mythology that college athletes receive a free education in exchange for their athletic labor is a powerful one, fueled in part, by a public perception that athletes have an easy path to being admitted into college and a privileged path through school once in. The database we’ve compiled begins to debunk this myth and serves as an important public disclosure mechanism to aid athletes as they consider their scholarship offers. Athletes and their families should know that this gap exists and that their expenses will be greater than the promise a free ride suggests.”

The data revealed that NCAA scholarship limitations can leave a full scholarship athlete with expenses ranging from as low as $200 per year up to more than $6,000 per year. That means that, NCAA rules mandate a “full” scholarship athlete to pay up to $30,000 over the course of five years.

The average amount an athlete on “full scholarship” would be required to pay out of pocket amounted to $2,763 per year, or more than $13,800 over the course of five years. Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis had the highest scholarship shortfall, amounting to over $6,000 per year, followed closely by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, East Tennessee State University, Saint Louis University, University of Louisville and Charleston Southern University, all with a greater than $5,000 per year estimated shortfall.

The University of South Carolina Upstate recorded the smallest scholarship shortfall at $200 per year. Other universities with the smallest scholarship shortfalls include: Gardner-Webb University; Colgate University; College of the Holy Cross; Providence College and Tulane University, ranging from a $700 to over $900 per year shortfall.

As a service to high school recruits, their parents, and college athletes, the NCPA made all 336 schools’ estimated scholarship shortfalls available on its web site at www.ncpanow.org.

“Every college athlete, recruit and parent should go to the NCPA web site and look closely at these shortfall numbers. Otherwise, they will find that their ‘full’ scholarship is leaving them buried in unexpected expenses,” said Huma.

With the $6 billion that the NCAA is receiving from CBS alone, there is more than enough new money to eliminate these scholarship shortfalls for the players who generate over $4 billion each year.

NCAA rules mandate a scholarship shortfall at every school that offers athletic scholarships in Divisions I and II. “With hundreds of thousands of athletes participating in NCAA sports, how many athletes have been unfairly burdened with debt in the last few decades due to the misinformation that they have received?” asked Gerard. “How much debt have they put on high interest credit cards that will take many years to pay off?”

Because there is such a wide range of scholarship shortfalls among schools across the nation ($200/yr – $6000/yr), the results from this study give schools with lower scholarship shortfalls an enormous recruiting advantage among recruits who want to avoid higher out-of-pocket expenses.

The NCAA’s position is clear. Although it is supposed to eliminate recruiting advantages, it has fought tooth and nail to subject unsuspecting players to scholarship shortfalls. “If I was a coach or fan of a school with a large scholarship shortfall, I’d be very worried about the future of my athletic program,” Huma stated.

The United Steelworkers have helped back the NCPA since 2001. The NCPA has established itself as the voice for college athletes, and has helped bring forth important reforms including:

• Helped establish a $10 million fund to assist former athletes who wish to complete their undergraduate degree or attend a graduate program

• Elimination of limits on health care for college athletes

• Increase in the NCAA death benefit from $10,000 to $25,000

• Expansion of the NCAA Catastrophic Injury Insurance Policy so that college athletes who suffer permanent, debilitating injuries can receive adequate home health care

• Implementation of key safety guidelines to help prevent deaths during workouts

Complete NCPA study results and additional studies are available on the NCPA web site: www.ncpanow.org

Shortfall estimates are the sum of expenses that cannot be covered in a full grant in aid athletic scholarship per NCAA rules. The data used to calculate shortfall numbers was taken from information published by the schools in the study as well as information made available by the US Department of Education. The NCPA says actual shortfall numbers will vary according to each individual student. The NCPA reached out to all 336 colleges and universities to offer an opportunity to provide any data disputing their school’s scholarship shortfall calculation. Of the 11 athletic programs that contacted the NCPA about their shortfall estimates, four had general inquiries, four had their concerns resolved, two did not respond to NCPA clarifications, and one wrote a letter disagreeing with their school’s estimate without providing any supporting data.

Source: United Steelworkers (USW); National College Players Association

CBS College Sports Network, MaxPreps and CBS Sports are teaming up to provide comprehensive cross platform coverage of the T-Mobile Invitational high school basketball tournament, a top national event featuring highly ranked high school boys and girls teams. The T-Mobile Invitational will be played December 29-30 at Worthen Arena on the campus of Ball State University.

The T-Mobile Invitational is the only basketball tournament sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and the field is composed only of schools from NFHS-member associations. The NFHS’ 51 member associations oversee and administer athletic and fine arts activities within those states. Only high schools that are members of those state associations are allowed to compete for their respective state titles.

CBS College Sports Network will broadcast all eight games of the tournament live with play-by-play announcer Jason Knapp teaming with analyst Steve Wolf to call the boys games and analyst Tammy Blackburn to call the girls games. The network is also partnering with Comcast Cable locally in Atlanta, Indianapolis and Seattle to make select tournament games and highlights available to each market via Comcast’s Video On Demand platform. Atlanta, Seattle and Indianapolis all have local high school teams participating in the event.

In addition, MaxPreps (www.maxpreps.com), the leading online high school sports network and official online partner of the T-Mobile Invitational, will offer replays of the full broadcast of all tournament games, available on-demand 48 hours after the conclusion of each contest. MaxPreps.com will also provide video features on all of the competing teams, as well as comprehensive highlight packages following each game.

Lastly, CBS Sports will cap off the tournament by airing a special one-hour “T-Mobile Invitational Showcase” on Jan. 18, 2009 (2 p.m., EST) that will give a behind-the-scenes look at the players, coaches, and fans that make this invitational high school basketball tournament the best in the country. The “T-Mobile Invitational Showcase” will focus on player profiles while highlighting the positive impact high school sports and activities have on students and their communities.

“This event is a great example of how CBS is able to utilize various properties to deliver full value to an advertiser,” said Steve Herbst, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS College Sports Network. “Together, we are providing T-Mobile with multi-platform, in-depth coverage and a one-stop solution that reaches fans nationally across all outlets, national broadcast, cable and online.”

“As a leader in the high school athletics media business, participation in this tournament is a natural fit for MaxPreps,” said Andy Beal, President of MaxPreps. “Showcasing a high school tournament on MaxPreps, CBS College Sports Network and CBS Sports provides tremendous visibility for these athletes and their stories.”

This year’s tournament features the Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) boys and the Washington (South Bend, Ind.) girls, each among the nation’s top ranked teams. Outstanding individuals include Derrick Favors (South Atlanta HS, Atlanta), the nation’s top ranked boys prep forward and Skylar Diggins (Washington HS, South Bend, Ind.) the top ranked girls point guard. For more information on the event and for the schedule of games, go to www.t-mobileinvitational.com.

Source: CBS

“As title sponsor, Travelers is proud to lead an event that has the resources to positively impact so many people and organizations in our community through financial contributions and increased awareness of these charities,” said Andy Bessette, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Travelers. “We are pleased to have delivered a successful event for Connecticut again this year, and we look forward to growing the tournament and ultimately its charitable impact on the community each year.”

Primary beneficiaries of the $760,000 were the Travelers Championship co-charities, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and the Greater Hartford Jaycees. In addition, more than 120 Connecticut charitable organizations benefited from the event through a variety of fundraising programs and donations.

“We are immensely grateful for our partnership with the Travelers Championship. This donation provides vital support to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, enabling us to offer children facing serious illness the chance to build self-esteem and restore joy,” said Ray Lamontagne, chairman of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. “In addition, through this event, we have been provided excellent media opportunities to increase awareness of the Camp’s remarkable programming.”

Located in Ashford, Conn., The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp is a residential summer camp and year-round center designed to serve children and families coping with cancer and other serious illnesses. At the Camp, youngsters with diagnoses including cancer, sickle cell anemia, HIV/AIDS and hemophilia have the time of their lives, while participating in boating, crafts, swimming, performing arts and more. The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp offers additional programs in the off-season for campers, their families and healthcare professionals. The Camp serves 15,000 children annually, all free of charge. In the words of one young camper, “I love it here. Sometimes you think being sick gives you limits, but the Camp helps you try anything.”

The Greater Hartford Jaycees is a membership organization for 21 – 41 year olds with a mission of leadership development through community service. Members of the Greater Hartford Jaycees are regularly seen in the community building playgrounds, delivering Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need, distributing Easter baskets to underprivileged children and facilitating youth leadership programs for high school students. In addition, the Greater Hartford Jaycees annually distributes thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants throughout the region.

“The Greater Hartford Jaycees is grateful to the thousands of fans, sponsors and volunteers who were part of the 2008 Travelers Championship, all of whom played a direct role in generating this donation,” said Joseph Pompei, president of the Greater Hartford Jaycees. “Through our involvement with the Travelers Championship, members of the Jaycees are able to develop leadership skills by organizing volunteers. With this donation, the organization will positively impact the community through scholarships for young people, grants for various charitable organizations and important community programming, such as Thanksgiving food baskets for those in need.”

More than 120 additional Connecticut charities were beneficiaries of the 2008 Travelers Championship through thousands of dollars raised in the Birdies for Charity pledge-based fundraiser and the Chip In for Charity ticket sales fundraiser. Additionally, the Travelers Championship made contributions to the World Golf Hall of Fame, as well as numerous product donations to regional fundraisers.

New this year, Haggett Longobardi, A Division of J.H. Cohn partnered in the tournament’s charitable giving mission as presenting sponsor of Birdies for Charity, by supporting administration of the program and generously providing a bonus fund for the charities that raised the most money.

“Haggett Longobardi, A Division of J.H. Cohn is proud to be a partner in this important community event. The Travelers Championship’s mission of giving back to Connecticut is complementary to our firm’s values, and we were pleased to find a way that we could support so many charities in our community,” said Frank Longobardi, managing partner. “Our Firm is committed to supporting Birdies for Charity by providing all administrative support and Birdies Bonus Bucks again in 2009. We urge all Connecticut nonprofits to explore this program and hope to see the funds raised continue to grow each year.”

This year’s donation included the tournament’s most successful Birdies for Charity campaign since the program was launched in 2004. The 2008 tournament included more than double the amount of charities participating in the program as compared to 2007.

“The program was so easy. In our first year participating in Birdies for Charity, we raised more than $11,000, plus we earned an additional $2,500 bonus. The funds we raised are going to help us provide our students with updated software needed so each child may continue to improve academically and socially,” said Sally McClure, director of development for the Intensive Education Academy.

Planning is well underway for the 2009 Travelers Championship, which will be held June 22 – 28, 2009 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. In addition to generating major charitable contributions, the tournament is a noteworthy economic driver for the state of Connecticut, annually attracting more than 220,000 fans and featuring four days of national television broadcast. Hosting an event of this magnitude results in extensive utilization of area hotels, airports and transportation providers; increased spending in local restaurants and stores; and significant operational expenses invested with a variety of local business to build the Travelers Championship site.

“Based on our investment in the local economy and the funds we raised for charity, the Travelers Championship is truly an event that Connecticut residents can be proud to have in their community. We are grateful for the many companies who supported us as sponsors and the thousands of fans who witnessed the tournament, making it possible for us to generate more then $760,000 for charity,” said Travelers Championship Tournament Director Nathan Grube. “We look forward to another successful tournament in 2009, and encourage everyone to consider how they can play a role in this event. Be it a new charity participating in a tournament fundraiser, new sponsors utilizing the tournament to grow their business, or fans and volunteers coming out to be part of the excitement, this event is truly a community partnership and offers a role for everyone to be involved.

Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship will be held June 22 – 28, 2009, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. As the only PGA TOUR event in the Northeast in early summer, the Travelers Championship is one of the region’s premier sporting events. Primary beneficiaries of the Travelers Championship are The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, serving children facing serious illness, and the Greater Hartford Jaycees, a leadership development and community service organization. The event is sponsored by Travelers, a leading provider of property casualty insurance for home, auto and business. Travelers has been doing business in the community for nearly a century and a half, and today has more than 6,000 employees in the Greater Hartford area. The Official Property Casualty Insurer of the PGA TOUR, Travelers has been a sponsor of this event each year since its inception in 1952, becoming title sponsor in 2007. Complete details are available on www.TravelersChampionship.com.