Inner-City Games Foundation

Mission: The mission of the Inner-City Games is to provide opportunities for inner-city youth to participate in sports, educational, cultural and community enrichment programs; to build confidence and self-esteem; to encourage youth to say "no" to gangs, drugs and violence and "yes" to hope, learning and life.

The Inner-City Games is a decentralized organization with dedicated people running their own local Inner-City Games and raising funds locally to support both summer and year-round, after-school programs for their kids.

All ICG events and programs are presented free of charge and promise to give youth positive choices that are also fun, healthy and challenging. ICG are taught that participation and learning are more important than winning or losing. While sports competitions and clinics are the core of ICG programs, the ICG believes in a "strong body" and "strong mind" and, therefore, offers a variety of computer, educational, cultural, chess and entrepreneurial programs as well.

Overview: The Inner-City Games (ICG) was formed in response to the growing number of young people across the nation living in poverty and facing the negative influences surrounding them in the ghettos and barrios.

The Inner-City Games began in Los Angeles in 1991 when Arnold Schwarzenegger joined forces with Danny Hernandez, Executive Director of East LA's Hollenbeck Youth Center. Creating the Inner-City Games Foundation (ICGF) in 1995 and serving as its Chairman, Arnold Schwarzenegger expanded the program to other U.S. cities. In just six years, the Inner-City Games has spread to 14 major U.S. cities and is serving over half a million young Americans. These cities include: Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose, and South Florida.

Recognizing that the significant majority of drug use, youth violence and teen pregnancies occur during the summer and after school, between 2 and 7pm, the Inner-City Games is committed to providing a positive vehicle for our kids during these "critical hours".

The Inner-City Games offers a wide variety of sports clinics and competitions, from the traditional baseball, basketball, track, soccer and swimming, to less traditional sports like horseback riding, tennis, golf, fencing and martial arts. Involving young people in sports clinics and competitions teaches valuable life lessons, brings young people from different cultures together on an equal playing field and teaches our kids about teamwork, discipline, setting goals, working hard, respecting their bodies and winning and losing. Inner-City Games Chairman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, calls sports the "hook" to get kids involved so they can then be directed into computer technology, cultural, educational and other alternative programs such as chess, to achieve a "strong body" and a "strong mind".

In recent years, ICG has expanded its educational efforts by focusing on the Digital Divide and educational technology. Thanks to Knowledge Adventure and Cendant Corporation, we are providing computer technology services to inner-city kids in 140 sites throughout the country. In addition, our ICG cities will be offering after-school programming in 230 sities in 2001. Both of these trends - full-year, summer and after-school programming, as well as an increased emphasis on educational technology - allow us to have a greater, long-term impact on the lives of our country's youth.

Inner-City Games also provides opportunities for young people to express themselves through art, dance, music and exciting dramatic arts programs. In addition, many Inner-City Games' cities offer scholarship programs for Inner-City Games' participants desiring to pursue higher education.

The ICG is powerful proof of what a public-private partnership can accomplish. Organized as a non-profit organization 501(c)(3) in each city, the Inner-City Games brings together local community leaders, creating an alliance between the private and public sectors to achieve the mission of the Inner-City Games. Mayors, Police Chiefs, Public Schools, Parks and Recreation Departments, Public Housing and other youth service providers are working with each Inner-City Games program to create a truly meaningful opportunity for thousands of young people.

Cendant Corporation and Hummer are our generous National Sponsors for the Games, with Knowledge Adventure serving as our National Educational Software Sponsor. In addition, dozens of other corporate leaders provide sponsorship locally to our ICG cities.

For additional information on the ICG, contact the Inner-City Games Foundation office at (310) 458-4411 or visit our national website at www.innercitygames.org.