Contact: Colleen Roche, Dwight Williams 212 788-2958
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today bid farewell to the New York City athletes who are taking part in the 30th annual United States Youth Games in Birmingham, Alabama. Joining the Mayor on the steps of City Hall were Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington and the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, Rosemarie O’Keefe.
“We wish these New York City athletes good luck and we hope they will represent the city with pride,” said Mayor Giuliani. “These Youth Games have become an important part of the summer for our city’s children. They are like a Junior Olympics, a chance for our young people to compete in a variety of sporting events. Teams from Newark, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Columbia, South Carolina will compete against our New York City team which dominated last year’s games.”
This year, approximately 70 of New York City’s boys and girls will compete in a variety of sports including basketball, track, tennis, swimming, bowling, and volleyball, and in the academic bowl.
The United States Youth Games were founded in 1966 by the New York City Urban Task Force under Mayor John V. Lindsay. The games were designed to give urban youth a planned, supervised and meaningful source of recreation during their summer vacations. Unlike typical athletic competitions, the games were not meant solely as a showcase for athletic talent, but rather to provide a base for the participants to enhance their self-discipline and pride and to gain the motivation necessary to achieve both physical and intellectual goals.