Olympic gold medalist and women's hockey hero Cassie Campbell has seen first hand that participation in organized sports helps children build character, self-esteem and social skills.

Through her lifelong association with sports, Cassie knows that involvement in athletics and recreation can help strengthen family units and communities as a whole. Campbell offers the following advice to parents to maximize their child's involvement in sports and recreation programs:

- Resist the urge to defer to an activity based on your personal preferences and wants. Ask your child what sports or hobbies interest them and find programs that support those interests and talents.
- Take a vested interest in your child's hobbies, recreational activities and sporting endeavors. Positive enforcement has an incredible affect on performance and their commitment level.
- Emphasize the enjoyment of sport, not who won or lost the game.
- Sports and recreation provide an incredible platform for communication with your children. The drive to and from games, practices or classes are a great opportunity to explore your child's feelings, concerns, accomplishments and goals.

If Campbell had her way, children of all income levels and abilities would have the same access to athletic programs. The reality is, one in three Canadian families cannot afford to enroll their children in an organized sports program. To help change those odds, Cassie has teamed up with Energizer Canada to challenge Canadian corporations and citizens to donate $20,000 by March 31, 2009 to Canadian Tire JumpStart, a program dedicated to funding organized sports programs for kids in financial need. Energizer kicked off the challenge by donating the first $10,000. To make a donation, visit www.canadiantire.ca/jumpstart and click on the "donate" link.

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For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Stein / Zoey Fiksel
APEX Public Relations
(416) 924-4442 ext. 227 / 279
jstein@apexpr.com / zfiksel@apexpr.com