April 22, 2003

TeamVOLS, the volunteer organization for the University of Tennessee, and the UT Athletics Departments partnered together to host April Play Day 2003. This year eight Knoxville Boys and Girls Clubs brought close to 400 children to Thompson-Boling Arena.

April Play Day is an opportunity for the University of Tennessee community to reach out to local Knoxville youth. The main goal of April Play Day is to instill in children the desire to work hard toward a college education, and that in addition to being challenging, school can be fun. We are eager for the children to familiarize themselves with our campus and the idea that going to college is important to their future.

The Boys and Girls Club children joined student and student-athlete volunteers for an afternoon of fun with food and games, such as an obstacle course, basketball, football, and many more. In addition to these activities, the children will also heard from some of UT's most popular athletes, watch performances from dance and step teams, and receive door prizes donated by Knoxville businesses.

The University of Tennessee Athletics Department hopes that the children leave campus excited about attending college in the future after having enjoyed an amazing afternoon with UT students and our student-athletes.

This year's participating Boys and Girls Clubs were Caswell, Christenberry Heights, Halls/Powell, Montgomery Village, Vestal, Walter P. Taylor, Western Heights and Laura Cansler.