The Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC) has concluded the 2015-16 academic year for its Nike sponsored ‘Active Kids’ initiative with an end of year event in Istanbul.

The celebration saw 550 children and 1500 parents come together at the Ataköy Athletics Hall, to participate in a range of activities including long jump, high jump and sprinting. At the end of the event the TOC and Nike handed out gift bags packed with sports gifts aimed at keeping the children active throughout the summer.

The ‘Active Kids’ project, first launched by the TOC during 2014-15 academic year, is co-developed by Nike as a part of Designed to Move initiative that is a call-to-action supported by a community of public, private, and civil sector organizations dedicated to ending the growing epidemic of physical inactivity.

Through ‘Active Kids’, the TOC aims to play its part in the fight against the growing global epidemic of physical inactivity.

2000 children across five schools registered for the 2015-16 academic year. Throughout the year, children were invited to local schools at weekend, to take part in a variety of fun and engaging physical activities under the supervision of qualified instructors.

Speaking about the ‘Active Kids’ project, TOC President Professor Dr. U?ur Erdener said:

“The Turkish Olympic Committee is delighted to have a concluded a record-breaking academic year for the ‘Active Kids’ initiative. As a National Olympic Committee, it is our duty to safeguard the physical wellbeing of our population and we are determined to this at earliest available opportunity. Through projects such as ‘Active Kids’, ‘Free Sports Schools’ and Olympic Day, the Turkish Olympic Committee continues to find effective ways of making sport accessible to young people across Turkey. With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games fast approaching it is important that we continue to boost interest in sport domestically and educate our young population on the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect.”

Every year the TOC will survey participating children to monitor progress, sharing its findings with Nike as the ‘Active Kids’ initiative progresses. The findings are measured against similar projects across the globe and used to determine the positive effects of being active.