NFL helps students achieve fitness goal Turns school field into training camp Thursday, June 14, 2007 • BY MIKE FRASSINELLI • Star-Ledger Staff The National Football League came to Warren County yesterday. The league converted the grounds of a contest-winning middle school -- one of only two selected in America -- into an impromptu training camp to promote healthy nutrition and physical activity. It was recess with a message at Great Meadows Middle School. Sixth- and seventh-graders who won the contest got to pass, catch and run while New York City-based NFL representatives and coaches from Clifton, Englewood, Paterson and Teaneck offered pigskin pointers. The NFL gave the youngsters footballs and T-shirts. The school about five miles west of Hackettstown and Turner Elementary School in Tampa, Fla., were chosen as clinic sites by Action for Healthy Kids, a national nonprofit organization that addresses the epidemic of overweight youth. The school was rewarded for efforts at the beginning of the school year to engage students, parents, families and community organizations in its new district-wide wellness curriculum. Jerry Horowitz, the NFL's national coordinator for junior player development and high school player development, opened some eyes when he told students that consuming an extra candy bar a day over the amount of calories they normally would eat would lead to a weight gain of 25 pounds. "By taking the stairs, by not jumping in a car to go a tenth of a block to school and by walking, those are all ways that you can increase your activity," Horowitz said. "I don't know if the principal is going to be too happy about this, but you can sit at your desk and you can actually exercise by raising your toes or bending down on your elbows while reading, or even just stretching." Divided into groups and sent to stations with cones, about 175 students -- some wearing Giants and Jets jerseys -- sprinted, backpedaled and sweated through relay races. "Everything was fun -- even the running," said sixth-grader Alex Sterphone, 12, a linebacker for the Belvidere Wildcats youth football team who sported a vintage Lawrence Taylor jersey. "I liked the relay race," added seventh-grader Nataliya Kovaleva, 13. The clinic was held on a busy school day that included an eighth-grade picnic and a Civil War project. But school Superintendent Jason Bing said the message of the NFL program needed to be heard. "Their main goal is just to promote a healthy, fit lifestyle among youth," Bing said. Horowitz stressed the importance of eating three meals a day. "Your body is pretty much like a car, in that if you don't put gas or fuel or put energy into a car, that car stops running," he said. "If you don't put food or energy into your body, your body stops running." Kevin Drakeford, an assistant coach at Englewood's Dwight Morrow High School who played running back in college, sees firsthand the changes in the level of student activity. "I have a teenager myself; they're not active like they were years ago," he said. "You need to get them outside, off the sofa, out (from) in front of the television. This is great. It reminds them of their physical condition." Mike Frassinelli may be reached at mfrassinelli@starledger.com or (908) 475-1218. © 2007 New Jersey On-Line LLC. All Rights Reserved.