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Improving the quality of your life
Annual competition continues to draw record numbers
Jim Hallihan says what started as an amateur sports festival has transformed into a full-scale crusade to improve the quality of life of Iowans.
The Iowa Sports Foundation executive director has been along for the ride as the ISF has added sports, programs and a new mission to its focus for the Winter Iowa Games in Dubuque, as well as the Summer Games in Ames. Hallihan said the ISF -- which also coordinates the healthy living programs Live Healthy Iowa and Go The Distance -- is on a growth track that he never saw coming.
"Never would I have ever dreamed that we would have 120,000 people in Iowa participate in Iowa Sports Foundation (activities)," Hallihan said.
Record turnout
The Winter Iowa Games attracted a record of over 3,700 participants in 2008 on the strength of adding the popular volleyball to its list of sports. Broomball, a variation on hockey played with brooms on ice, joined the lineup of 17 sports (11 individual, six team) for the 2009 festival. Registration for the 2010 Games can be found at www.iowagames.org.
The Winter Iowa Games, which were spread over four weekends in 12 communities, attracted 3,600 athletes from Jan. 23 to Feb. 14.
The majority of the sports festival took place in Dubuque.
The wrestling competition, held in Perry, attracted the largest number of individual participants at 244, while trapshooting drew 171. In team sports, youth basketball drew 679 players and indoor soccer 634.
The Iowa Sports Foundation added broomball to its list of sports this year. It became the 17th sport offered in the Winter Iowa Games.
Hallihan, who once thought the Games had reached their max point, now doesn't put limits on future expansion. Over 7,000 people in Dubuque County alone participated in ISF events last season, ranking the county second to only Central Iowa's Polk County.
"Any way we can make them grow, we want them to grow," he said.
Hallihan stressed the key to future expansion of the Winter Iowa Games is having enough volunteers to coordinate them.
Some healthy challenges
Live Healthy Iowa (formerly known as Lighten Up Iowa), Live Healthy Iowa Kids and Go The Distance (a youth program promoting physical activity among Iowa school children) continue to reach large numbers of Iowans.
Live Healthy Iowa challenges friends, families, businesses and communities to come together in a team-based challenge designed to promote a healthier lifestyle. In 2008, 36,791 Iowans took part in the program and lost more than 138,217 pounds.
"Our goal is to make Iowa the healthiest state in America," Hallihan said. "You do that person by person, community by community."
The 63-year-old Hallihan credits his staff for helping the ISF excel in new avenues. He's glad he's been on the job for a while to prepare him for the diverse workload.
"If I would have started this year, I'd be lost because we're doing so much," he said.