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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 9, 2009

Stars get Nanakuli kids on their feet


By David Pham
Advertiser Staff Writer

Imagine Johnny Depp teaching kickboxing while fighting a triceratops. That's the future of after-school fitness for kids at Nanaikapono Elementary.

Nanakuli Boys & Girls Club members already use HOPSports, an instructional fitness video program that features celebrities demonstrating different exercises including basketball, break dancing, martial arts and more. Plastic sticks help simulate the movements of baseball, golf and fencing.

Tom Root, CEO of HOPSports, passed by the school Monday to present an upgrade filled with more programs. Root says technology — like the Internet and computers — is one of the biggest factors keeping kids away from exercise, but could also be the answer to increasing exercise.

"Phone applications are the next big thing," Root said, referring to the iPod Sport Kit, an Apple and Nike combination.

The fun factor makes the program engaging. Some students even think the program should replace physical education class.

"I like (HOPSports) better because it's more fun," said Shirleyann cruz Keawe, a sixth-grader at Nanaikapono. "I hate running; it makes me all sweaty."

The program is housed in the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii NFL Youth Education Town Center next to the school.

The HOPSports program is in 39 states and more than 415 sites and serves more than 1.25 million kids each week. The goal is to reach 4 million kids a week by the end of 2010.

For more information, visit www.hopsports.com.