Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Arnold Sports Festival announced today a five-year partnership that names the hospital as both a philanthropic beneficiary and official youth sports health partner for the Arnold Sports Festival.
As part of the new relationship, Nationwide Children’s will provide their sports medicine expertise in guiding medical services for the thousands of youth athletes that compete annually at the Arnold Sports Festival. The Nationwide Children's team will focus on sports predominantly attended by youth athletes including archery, wrestling, fencing, cheerleading, dance, figure skating, gymnastics, karate, Tae Kwon Do and new this year, skateboarding. Additionally, the two organizations will work together to develop healthy living messages to Central Ohio families and youth.
“We are proud to partner with Nationwide Children’s Hospital in jointly promoting a healthy lifestyle for our community’s youth,” said Jim Lorimer, co-producer of the Arnold Sports Festival with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Nationwide Children’s is one of the leading pediatric care providers in the United States and we thank its staff for caring for the Arnold Sports Festival’s athletes.”
The Arnold Sports Festival and Nationwide Children’s will also partner on a multi-year philanthropic initiative that will benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“As North America’s premier youth sports event, the Arnold Sports Festival shines a bright light on the importance and value of health and wellness,” notes Steve Allen, MD, CEO of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “We are proud to bring our sports medicine expertise as their official youth sports health partner and are honored to be the philanthropic beneficiary of this internationally recognized event.”
The Arnold Sports Festival is the largest multi-sport festival in the nation with more than 17,000 athletes competing in 44 sports and events, including 12 Olympic sports. The 2010 Arnold Sports Festival will be held March 4-7 in downtown Columbus and will attract more than 170,000 sports and fitness enthusiasts. The Sports Festival Weekend is supported by more than 600 volunteers, including 150 physicians and nurses protecting the 17,000 athletes who compete each year. More information is available at www.ArnoldSportsFestival.com.
Nationwide Children’s has been named one of America’s best children’s hospitals by both U.S.News & World Report and Parents magazines. As one of the nation’s largest pediatric hospitals and research centers, the not-for-profit organization serves more than 750,000 children annually regardless of any family’s ability to pay. Nationwide Children’s Sports Medicine is a team of physicians, athletic trainers and physical therapists specially trained to deal with injuries unique to the student athlete. More information is available at www.NationwideChildrens.org.
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About Nationwide Children's Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-25 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 16,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.8 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.