CHICAGO TO HOST BEYOND SPORT IN 2010

LONDON, UK (July 9, 2009) - Beyond Sport is delighted to announce that Chicago has been selected to be the Host City for the Beyond Sport Summit and Awards in 2010.

Fresh from the success of the inaugural Beyond Sport event in London, Chicago will take up the reins for next year becoming the focus of the continuing evolution of the Beyond Sport network and its mission to celebrate and support the use of sport as a vehicle for positive social change.

As a bidding city for the 2016 Olympic Games, Chicago’s focus on creating a lasting legacy will not only strengthen the Olympic movement but also gives Beyond Sport the perfect platform for future growth and to increase its reach and impact further still across the globe.

Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Chairman of the Beyond Sport Ambassadors, stated: “I am delighted that Chicago is backing Beyond Sport and its vision to unlock the great value that sport holds for social development, building on the huge progress made this week in London.”

World Sport Chicago’s commitment to create an urban sports programme that will affect the lives of many thousands of young, disadvantaged children is one of many reasons why the city has chosen to partner with Beyond Sport.

“As Mayor, we look forward to officially welcoming the Beyond Sport Summit to Chicago in 2010,” said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

“Having Chicago selected to host Beyond Sport demonstrates a great vote of confidence in the commitment World Sport Chicago has made to giving young people opportunities to participate in sport. This is very important to us because since we have been working to bring the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Chicago, we have come to appreciate even more strongly the power of sport to change people's lives – especially young people.”

“Chicago 2016 and World Sport Chicago are dedicated to enhancing youth sport programming in Chicago and around the world. We’ve already reach more than 30,000 kids, and our Games plan was designed with many legacy components in mind,” said Bill Scherr, Chairman of World Sport Chicago

“If Chicago has the honour of hosting the Games, kids and families throughout the city will have access to enhanced parklands and new sport facilities—many of which are a natural fit for programming supported by World Sport Chicago. We look forward to hosting Beyond Sport in Chicago next year to share our ideas and learn from others.”

Having celebrated the best sport and development projects from across the world in 2009, the Beyond Sport Awards will open for entries once again in the latter part of this year with the winners to be announced in Chicago in 2010.

“We’re delighted that Chicago has chosen to host Beyond Sport in 2010 and are overwhelmed by the support for Mayor Daley has shown us,” commented Nick Keller, Founder, Beyond Sport. “By taking Beyond Sport to Chicago, it will enable us to substantially increase our global reach and open up new markets for the sport and development movement.”

Beyond Sport is a global initiative that seeks to celebrate and promote any organisation or individual with the goal to drive positive social change through sport.

For more information on Beyond Sport or its Summit and Awards, log on to www.beyondsport.org.