On June 5, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba will welcome the Gold Medal Soccer Clinic, hosted by Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup champion Julie Foudy, to Brooklyn's Grand Street Education Campus. Joining Foudy will be her husband Ian Sawyers, the coach and general manager of the brand new NY/NJ professional women's soccer team--Sky Blue Soccer. The one-day soccer clinic is part of a professional development program for 100 New York City middle school soccer and physical education teachers. The clinic will kick-off at 9:00AM. Participation in this event is limited to registered teachers and coaches from the NYC public school system.

"What a treat it will be for NYC's teachers to learn from two of soccer's great ambassadors--Julie Foudy and Ian Sawyers," said Commissioner Podziba. "Many thanks to Julie and Ian for being a part of this special day and to Cabot Creamery for making this event possible. We are so grateful to have partners like Cabot Creamery that share the City's mission of promoting healthier lifestyles for our children."

Sponsored by Cabot Creamery, the clinic will include hands-on, live-action tips on coaching soccer combined with messages of exercise, leadership and healthy nutrition to be utilized by coaches and physical education teachers working with middle school students.

"We've been working with kids for more than a decade in order to teach them the importance of proper eating and nutrition," said Roberta MacDonald, Senior VP of Marketing for Cabot Creamery Cooperative. "But we also tell them that simply eating the right foods isn't enough; exercise is a key component to maintaining a healthy body. That is why we are teaming up with Julie Foudy for the third time. We feel the Gold Medal Soccer Clinic is the perfect program for teaching educators how to get their students involved in exercise and healthy eating."

With three-out-of-four teens affected by the calcium and obesity crisis, programs like the Gold Medal Soccer Coach Clinic play a critical role in teaching educators proven strategies for getting their students involved in exercise and healthy eating. This one-day clinic is designed to highlight the combined importance of soccer skills and proper nutrition to clinic participants in advance of the expansion of Cooperative-Healthy-Active-Motivated-Positive-Students (CHAMPS) soccer programs in NYC middle schools this fall.

"New York City's 1.1 million public school students are the beneficiaries of our partnerships like this one," said Lori Rose Benson, Director of the Department of Education's Office of Fitness and Health Education. "As our city and our country combat the childhood obesity epidemic, it's essential that we provide all young people with the opportunity to participate in a wide range of fitness activities. Kids need to find an activity that appeals to them so their participation can form the basis of lifelong fitness habits."

In addition to the Gold Medal Soccer Clinic, one lucky school will win a follow-up visit by Julie Foudy to work with the students on soccer drills and discuss the importance of health and nutrition.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919 and is best known as makers of "The World's Best Cheddar," Cabot is owned by the dairy farm families of Agri-Mark, the Northeast's premier dairy cooperative. For additional information on Cabot Creamery, visit www.cabotcheese.coop.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. The Sports Commission has played an integral role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.