Bethpage, NY – October 25, 2004 – November 4th marks a day in women's sports history as leading sports video-on-demand network sportskool and Cablevision's Power to Learn and Lightpath bring Olympic gold medalists Mia Hamm (soccer), Sue Bird (basketball) and Jennie Finch (softball) to Long Island to inspire and empower tomorrow's female champions to achieve their athletic dreams. Uniting these legends for the first time ever, the truly unprecedented "sportskool's Champions on Demand" event will take place at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum from 4:00pm-5:30pm.
Hamm, Finch and Bird, representative of the ultimate in strength, perseverance and success, will share their perspectives about exercise and training with middle and high school girls from across Long Island. The event is open to the public and features a 90-minute interactive program with the three gold medalists presenting live soccer, basketball and softball demonstrations with audience members.
"I am so thrilled to be a part of this event," said Mia Hamm. "By participating in team sports or just being active in general, girls develop important skills for the future. Hopefully they will walk away from this experience and be inspired to get out, get active and driven to achieve their athletic potential."
All three athletes are part of sportskool, the nation's first and only Video-on-Demand television network, providing a wide range of expert sports and fitness education, coaching and guidance. Featuring exclusive and original programming, sportskool assists young athletes in reaching their athletic goals by allowing them to train at any time everyday in the comfort of their home with world-renowned athletes, coaches and trainers including Hamm, Bird, Major League Baseball great Nomar Garciaparra, Andy Roddick's legendary tennis coach Brad Gilbert, skateboarding pioneer Mike Vallely (Mike V.) and many more.
"Today we'll bring sportskool to life," said Erin Harvego, director of marketing for sportskool. "This one-of-a-kind event will really show these girls that anything is possible if you train hard and put your mind to it."
The sportskool program empowers people of all ages and at all levels to learn how to play, how to train and how to get in shape. For those who are already active, sportskool allows them train with the best. For beginners, sportskool eliminates some of the barriers to getting started by enabling them learn at their own pace.
Power to Learn, Cablevision's nationally recognized education initiative, is providing online support for the event including registration and a unique, post-event "Ask the Expert" opportunity for girls to submit questions to the athletes at www.powertolearn.com. Select questions will be answered by the athletes and posted online following the event. Students from Lightpath powered schools who attend the event will participate in skills demonstrations and be given the opportunity to ask questions.
sportskool, a service of Rainbow Sports Networks, is available at no extra charge on channel 149 throughout the New York metropolitan area as part of Cablevision's award winning iO: Interactive Optimum digital cable television platform.
To register for the event, go to www.powertolearn.com. For more information about sportskool, visit http://www.sportskool.com.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC:
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment; as well as the on-demand services: Mag Rack, sportskool, Uncensored On Demand, World Picks On Demand and World Picks Networks. Rainbow Media's other businesses include its regional programming services – MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow Media is also a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.
About Power To Learn:
Power to Learn, Cablevision's nationally recognized education initiative, empowers K-12 learning in the tri-state area by making technology in the classroom useful and by facilitating the home-school connection. By the end of 2004, more than 2,100 schools and libraries throughout Cablevision's New York metropolitan service area will receive high-speed Internet access and more than 85% of schools in Cablevision's service area will receive free cable television service as a result of this initiative. Information about Power to Learn is available at www.powertolearn.com.
About Lightpath:
For more than 16-years, Lightpath, as part of one of the nation's leading communications companies, Cablevision Systems Corporation, has been designing and delivering innovative telecommunications solutions for businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area. From its inception, meeting the evolving communications needs of businesses has been its sole focus and commitment. Today, thousands of organizations use its integrated voice, data and Internet services to increase their productivity, reduce operations costs, identify and take advantage of new business opportunities, and enhance the ability to utilize ongoing advances in communications technology.
With 2003 revenue in excess of $178 million, more than 142,000 access lines and 27,000 dedicated Internet and broadband circuits, Lightpath utilizes a state-of-the-art, all-digital network with more than 2,300 route miles of fiber optic cable (nearly 119,000 miles of actual fiber) and direct "first" or "last" mile access to more than 20,000 "on-net" commercial buildings to deliver next generation solutions with the diversity, scalability and reliability companies demand in today's highly competitive and financially-focused business market. For more information visit the Lightpath website at www.lightpath.net.