The Peach Belt Conference Specializes in Community Outreach...

Is your property looking to incorporate community involvement and corporate support at a nuetral site event? Is your property looking to build a "community focused" brand and develop an avid fan base in a new community outside of its market? Are you looking for ways to leverage your athletes in the local community?

Properties looking to implement effective outreach programs which directly impact the community should consider benchmarking the efforts of the Peach Belt Conference. John Semeraro and his counterparts at the Peach Belt Conference have done an incredible job leveraging student-athletes and committed corporate partners in outreach efforts that give back to the community.

As part of its soccer championship weekend, the Peach Belt Conference recently held a neutral site "Breakfast with the Champions" event that called on 150 Division II student-athletes to host a free soccer clinic and breakfast for a few hundred resident youth ages 7-12 in Augusta, GA. Coaches and athletes from six (6) PBC member institutions put on the event, teaching children the fundamentals of soccer and teamwork and signing autographs afterwards.

Local youth were also provided the opportunity to participate in an international walk-out and stand by student-athletes prior to the start of each game during the championship weekend for the announcement of the starting lineups and the national anthem.

By offering residents a chance to directly engage with the Conference's student-athletes, the Peach Belt Conference was able to offer Publix and Coca-Cola (the event's two Presenting Sponsors) an effective way to directly connect with the local community. Representatives from each of the companies provided in-kind trade and t-shirts for the participants.

To drive awareness for the "Breakfast with the Champions" event amongst residents in the Augusta community, representatives from the Peach Belt Conference reached out to key contacts from local recreation departments, elementary schools, competitive soccer clubs, and Boys and Girls clubs.

Through its execution of the "Breakfast with the Champions" event, the Peach Belt Conference effectively:

• Demonstrated how the conference community can unite off the field (despite competing on the field)
• Established an identity for the PBC in the Augusta marketplace
• Utilized local sponsors to purchase ticket backs at a relatively low price to provide tickets to a youth organization of their choice. As a result, the initiative helped customers not have to purchase tickets and provided a goodwill/promotional opportunity for various companies

Hats off to John Semeraro and his team at the Peach Belt Conference for a job well done in Augusta!