Final4YOUth is a program being developed by Tulane
University which will be unveiled at the NCAA’s 2012
Men’s
Basketball Final Four in New Orleans. The purpose of Final4YOUth
is to introduce Louisiana high school students to the wide
spectrum of career opportunities in athletics, such as coaching,
athletic training, game operations, marketing and public relations. The
program will include participation, mentoring, volunteering
and a college fair.
Pilot projects of Final4YOUth are currently underway
for Summer 2009 and for the NCAA’s first and second
round games in March 2010.
In piloting Final4YOUth, Tulane
Athletics has partered with Tulane's Upward Bound, a program
that provides opportunities for high-school aged students to
succeed in pre-college performance and ultimately in higher
education pursuits. Students in Upward Bound are exposed to
a wide variety of academic, cultural, and social opportunities
simulating a college experience.
As part of the Final4YOUth pilot
program in Summer 2009, the fifty students currently enrolled
in Tulane's Upward Bound will learn about exciting careers
in sports-related fields and will meet with successful leaders
from those fields. Among the topics to be covered this summer:
college athletics, facility management, women in sports management,
coaching and New Orleans tourism.
The concept for Final4YOUth was
an integral part of the proposal that won New Orleans the bid
to host the NCAA Men’s Basketball
Final Four in 2012. It received great interest and many accolades
from the NCAA selection committee; members were interested
in the way the program will enhance the academic component
of this premiere athletic event. Tulane is developing the program
with assistance from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association,
the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, SMG and the New
Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
2009 Speaker Schedule
June 15 - Rick Dickson, Tulane
Director of Athletics
June 17 - Maria Ochoa Woods, Sr. Assoc AD and SWA, Tulane Athletics
June 22 - Kim Lewis, Asst. Men's Basketball Coach and Tulane
Alum
June 24 - Mary Beth Romig, Dir. of Communications and PR, New
Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau
June 29 - Jeff Tandberg, GM, Centerplate, New Orleans Arena
and Louisiana Superdome
July 1 - Andy Massey, Head Athletic Trainer, Tulane Athletics
July 6 - Charles Gaspard, Tulane Football student-athlete
July 8 - Randy Philipson, Dir. of Engineering and Operations,
New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome
July 16- Program Banquet at the Wilson Athletic Center