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Mary Reinholz
In a goodwill gesture intended to spur sportsmanship and brand recognition, Fox Kids Latin America began the first in a series of pan-regional-soccer games on a playing field in Sao Paulo, Brazil last weekend, bringing together about 520 kid athletes from 16 schools and about 1,000 spectators. The event also drew Rai, a famed Brazilian soccer player who held a soccer clinic after the competition and gave instructions to kids from 7-9 and 10-12, the two age groups that competed from each school. Girls performed in entertainment for the event, which was called Copa Fox Kids and co-sponsored by Reebok.
"In years to come, Fox Kids will introduce soccer for (girls), but right now we're sensitive to the traditional culture," said Emiliano Calemzuk, director of promotions for Fox Kids. He was speaking from Brazil and giving a nod to the prevailing machismo in soccer, which is the national sport in Brazil.
"We want to promote the sports mentality and the values that sports bring in the development of a person," said Calemzuk, adding that each school represented in the soccer game was accompanied by a coach. "We're helping (kids) learn about sports through their sports idols, which reinforces good will, and we want viewers to experience Fox Kids Latin America," he continued.
The network, which launched in 1995 as a 24-hour children's channel transmitted in Spanish, Portuguese and English in Latin America, will extend the pan-regional initiative to two more cities in Brazil, and areas of Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru during May and June with staffers passing out fitness education pamphlets in advance of the tournaments.
Fox Kids and Reebok will also join together to make donations to schools and charities in the cities that host the tournaments. Reebok will provide sports equipment for all of the participants as well as tickets to pro-league games for underprivileged children in the region.
Calemzuk said that apart from the tournament, winners receiving trophies and medals, every kid participating in the events will be given a Reebok kit containing T-shirts and a Yo-Yo in the shape of a soccer bowl. "These are grass roots events," he observed. "We want to reward the communities we affect every day (on television) with all this education, sports and entertainment."
In related news, Galavision, the New York-based Spanish language cable network, announced it will launch its first block of Spanish language educational programming for pre-schoolers aged 2-7, June 7 in a joint venture with the Benny Smart division of Hollywood Ventures Corp., a provider of children's entertainment through Public Television.
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