The National Police Athletic League and the WNBA Announce Partnership

The Police Athletic League and the WNBA have formalized a community partnership at the national level to jointly develop programs that promote the health and wellbeing of young people across the country. The WNBA will be a partner with PALs to fulfill their mission to �fill playgrounds, not prisons�. The Police Athletic League and the WNBA share a common goal--reaching, motivating and inspiring young people through sports. Did you know that twenty-eight percent of fans in WNBA arenas are under 18 years of age and the vast majority of those young fans are female? This partnership can help increase participation of girls in PAL programs across the country and will also help increase exposure for local PAL sports programs in general. The WNBA has excellent role models and great basketball entertainment for young people of all ages and genders.

"National PAL is extremely excited to enter into an alliance with the WNBA. By partnering with the WNBA we can expose our local PAL chapters to the spirit, hard work and excitement that embodies the WNBA.� said, Brad Hart, Executive Director, National Association of Police Athletic Leagues.

The WNBA wants to provide local chapters and PAL programs in all sports the opportunity to set up an official �PAL Night� with your local WNBA team during one of the team�s 2002 home games which tips off on May 25 and ends on August 13. An added bonus to having a designated �PAL Night� is that local chapters and groups can receive discount tickets to the game and will be recognized on the arena PA system and/or jumbo-tron.

**Some PAL chapters may also receive some of these additional benefits:

WNBA player and/or coach appearances at group events

WNBA player-led and/or coach-led basketball clinics for PAL teams

Concourse tabling at WNBA arena (to enable councils to distribute program and recruitment information)

Participation in pre-game ball exchange with WNBA players

Behind-the-scenes arena tour

On-court activity (scrimmage, honorary ball person, etc.)

Overnight sleep-over in the arena

Fundraising opportunities (auction items availability, etc.)

**Exact benefits to be negotiated between WNBA teams and local PAL Chapter/team

The National PAL is asking chapters with proximity to a WNBA team to take advantage of this great opportunity by inviting a WNBA representative to come to a meeting of all the local sports team managers to promote the WNBA �PAL Night� opportunity. Don�t delay! Many WNBA teams are already making plans to host special nights for other groups and want to be available to come to your meeting. Please schedule these meetings as soon as possible by calling the WNBA team contact listed for your local area on the attached sheet.

PAL National Contact	WNBA National Contact
Brad Hart: Executive Director, National PAL	Karin Buchholz: Director of Fan Development
(561) 844-1823	212-407-8657
Email address: CopNkid@aol.com	Email address: kbuchholz@wnba.com