Junior Goodwill Games Fact Sheet

What: The Junior Goodwill Games are a national grass-roots sports program designed to encourage children’s participation in sports. The program is open to all youngsters, ages 8-13, and will feature competition in three Goodwill Games sports: track and field, swimming, and basketball. Decathlete and Olympic gold medalist Dan O’Brien is the program’s national spokesperson. Olympic Champion Jenny Thompson is the spokesperson for the swimming portion of the program and Atlanta Hawks Guard Steve Smith is the spokesperson for basketball.

When: Local competition will commence on May 15 and finalists will have the opportunity to travel to New York to be a part of the 1998 Goodwill Games.

Structure: The Games are structured for children to advance through local and sectional competitions. The top scorers from each sectional will be regionally and nationally ranked, and the top performers will advance to the Junior Goodwill Games finals in New York (Manhattan and Long Island).

The Junior Goodwill Games will be promoted through an arrangement with TBS-affiliated cable operators across the country and by the award-winning Sports Illustrated For Kids magazine. Participating TBS cable operators will promote local and sectional competitions on a market-to-market basis. Each participant at the local level will receive a souvenir Junior Goodwill Games booklet, produced by Sports Illustrated For Kids magazine. The program will be supported by promotional and advertising support in Sports Illustrated For Kids. Details of local and sectional competition are available by calling 1-800-260-0618 or by checking the Goodwill Games website at www.goodwillgames98.com.

Why: The 1998 Goodwill Games have redefined “goodwill” to mean benefiting children. Helping children is an investment in the world’s future, and involvement in sports is an excellent life experience for children.

Goodwill Games: The 1998 Goodwill Games, scheduled for July 19-August 2, in the New York metropolitan area (Manhattan, Long Island and Staten Island), will showcase approximately 1,500 of the world's best athletes from more than 60 countries competing in 15 sports. The competitors, which include numerous world and Olympic champions, will be vying for $5 million in prize money and world record/performance incentives, the largest purse in multi-sport event history.

TBS Superstation will televise 45 hours of prime-time coverage of the 1998 Goodwill Games. CBS, the Games' U.S. broadcast partner, will televise 10 hours of weekend, afternoon coverage. In addition to appearing on TBS and CBS, boxing will be televised on HBO as part of the Boxing After Dark series. Turner Sports is the host broadcaster and is coordinating all aspects of the production. Internationally, the syndication rights are being sold by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.

Past Goodwill Games sites include Moscow, Soviet Union, 1986; Seattle, Wash., 1990; and St. Petersburg, Russia, 1994.

The Goodwill Games are hosted through a combined effort between Goodwill Games, Inc. and the participating sports federations, in conjunction with the appropriate state, city and county governmental agencies. Goodwill Games, Inc., a division of Turner Sports, is responsible for all aspects of the event.