Grand Street Campus Wolves to Meet New York Knicks Power Forward David Lee at Local Athlete's Foot Store
Local Team Enjoying "Storybook" Season Looks to Pro for Playoff Inspiration
| Source: NexCen Brands, Inc.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - November 7, 2007) - The Grand Street Campus Wolves are hungry to
win and have been setting and achieving goals all year in the pursuit of a
PSAL (Public School Athletic League) championship. At the beginning of the
school year, a number of players on the team entered The Athlete's Foot (TAF)
back-to-school In My Shoes
contest. As a reward for their participation in the footwear
retailer's campaign, the team will have the opportunity to learn from
another athlete who has worked hard to reach his goals -- New York Knicks forward David Lee.
Members of the Grand Street Campus Wolves will meet Lee at The Athlete's
Foot at 1053-1055 Liberty Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11208, on Thursday, November
8th.
"The goal of the In My Shoes campaign is to help young athletes in their
quest to achieve their goals and perform at their highest level," commented
Robert W. D'Loren, President and CEO of NexCen Brands, Inc., parent company
of TAF. "Through our network of local TAF franchises, we are thrilled to
provide everyday athletes like the Wolves the opportunity to meet pros who
can provide insight on what it takes to succeed."
The Grand Street Campus Wolves have had an 8-1 football season and are
heading into the playoffs this Saturday against Tottenville High School.
This has been a "storybook" season for the Wolves, who pulled off wins
against two higher ranked teams outside of their division. The team
attributes these wins to their goal-focused mentality and their ability to
work hard to achieve those goals -- in sports and in their personal lives.
In fact, in addition to an athletic coach, Ed Gazillo (who founded the team
in 1999), the Wolves also have an academic coach to assist them with any
off-the-field issues and ensure that they stay on track with their
schoolwork. It was this academic coach, Craig Lustman, who encouraged the
student athletes to enter the In My Shoes contest to help them cement their
aspirations and commit to making them a reality.
"The team was so thrilled to hear that they would have the opportunity to
speak with a professional athlete who has also set goals and has achieved
great success in his sport," said Lustman, upon receiving notification that
the Wolves had been given the meet-and-greet opportunity. "Our team
members face real challenges on and off the field and an opportunity like
this wouldn't be easily attainable for them on their own. We are very
grateful to The Athlete's Foot for the chance to reward them for their hard
work and to hear some words of encouragement from a pro athlete."
As a high-school baller, David Lee was named McDonald's All-American his
senior year. To achieve that status, he overcame an early obstacle: a
broken left arm. As a natural leftie, Lee trained himself to be
ambidextrous and played with his right hand, a skill he still relies on
today. After high school, Lee played for four years at the University of
Florida. Lee was installed as the Knicks' starting small forward for a
stretch of 13 games in December 2005 and January 2006 and his career highs
with the Knicks include 23 points and 20 rebounds each occurring in a
single game. On February 16, 2007, Lee was named the Most Valuable Player
in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, finishing with 30 points on 14 of 14
shooting from the field and 11 rebounds.
The athletes will meet on Thursday, November 8th, at the Athlete's Foot
store located at 1053-1055 Liberty Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11208. There, Lee
will sign autographs for the public from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. and will meet
the team from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. There is a cost of $30 per autograph for
members of the public.
"It's always a pleasure to bring passionate athletes together to 'talk
shop' and learn from each other," said Harry Malhotra, local franchisee of
The Athlete's Foot. "Providing the athletes in my community with the tools
they need to succeed is one of the highlights of owning a TAF franchise."
The TAF In My Shoes campaign, which the retailer launched in late July
invited students ages 13 to 18 nationwide to submit written or video
(YouTube) entries stating their performance goals for the new school year.
The New York area regional contest winner, a freshman basketball player at
Brooklyn College, will also receive a TAF gift card. His regional winning
entry stressed a commitment to success on and off the court, pledging to
take school seriously, stating that "gaining an education is a privilege
that many do not have, and I refuse to waste it."
In addition to the New York event with David Lee, nine other regional
winners have met pro athletes from their communities, including:
-- Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis
-- Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward
-- Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle
-- Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn
-- Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley
-- Detroit Lions quarterback Jon Kitna
-- Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown
-- Houston Texans running back Ahman
Green
-- New Orleans Saints receiver Marques Colston
One national winner will have a one-on-one coaching session with one of the
hottest professional athletes in the country. The winner and athlete will
be announced in early November.
The Athlete's Foot is thrilled to contribute 10% of the proceeds from the
memorabilia sales at each regional meet-and-greet to Achilles Kids, a
division of The Achilles Track Club (ATC) (www.achillestrackclub.org),
which enables young people with all types of disabilities to participate in
mainstream athletics, to promote personal achievement, enhanced self esteem
and the lowering of barriers between people.
About The Athlete's Foot (www.theathletesfoot.com)
The Athlete's Foot® (TAF) is the world's first franchisor of athletic
footwear stores and is recognized today as the world leader in athletic
footwear franchising. Robert and David Lando opened the first The
Athlete's Foot store in 1971 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first
athletic footwear specialty store of its kind in the United States. Soon
thereafter, TAF began franchising domestically, with the first franchise
store opening in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The first international franchise
store opened in 1978 in Adelaide, Australia, the beginning of TAF's
expansion into over 45 countries. In June 2007, NexCen Brands launched a
global re-branding effort for TAF. Plans for reinvigorating the 36 year-old
brand include an innovative new modular merchandising system, new in-store
design, a modernized company logo, and a line of TAF branded apparel.
About NexCen Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ : NEXC ) (www.nexcenbrands.com)
NexCen Brands, Inc. is the premier 21st century vertically integrated
global brand acquisition and management company focused on assembling a
diversified portfolio of intellectual property-centric companies operating
in the consumer branded products and franchise industries. The Company
owns, licenses, franchises and markets a growing portfolio of consumer and
franchise brands including The Athlete's Foot®, Bill Blass®,
MaggieMoo's®, Marble Slab Creamery®, Pretzel Time®, and
Pretzelmaker® and Waverly®. The Company licenses and franchises its
brands to a network of leading retailers, manufacturers and franchisees
that includes every major segment of retail distribution from the luxury
market to the mass market in the U.S. and in over 50 countries around the
world, and consists of more than 1,500 franchised stores. NexCen, through
its information technology, franchisee support systems and advertising,
marketing and public relations team, markets its brands to continually
drive greater consumer awareness and brand equity for each of its brands.
NexCen touches nearly every aspect of a consumer's lifestyle from the food
they eat to the furnishings in their homes and the clothes and footwear
they purchase.