Sperring called Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck to participate in a day of activity for children called Change the Play to raise awareness for the eight-week challenge Riley is planning for Indiana schools this fall.
“It’s something if your doctor says it,” Sperring said. “It’s something if your mom or dad says it, but if Andrew Luck says it? Kids pay ?attention.”
Luck was the featured guest at Tuesday’s Change the Play camp organized by Riley Hospital. The event took place on the field of Memorial Stadium in Bloomington and featured Luck and 40 IU athletes who volunteered their time to exercise with the kids.
Obesity among children is an epidemic, and the process to reverse sedentary lifestyles needs to begin now, Sperring said.
“Our goal is, ‘let’s try and stop this while there’s still a chance to make a difference for kids,’” Sperring said.
Tuesday’s event was the first of two scheduled campus trips Riley will make. Luck and the group at Riley will travel July 10 to West Lafayette to provide the same experience for kids at Purdue University.
The Change the Play event was organized to promote Riley’s eight-week challenge. Children can go online and sign up for the program free of charge.
Each week, there are eight different challenges for the kids to pass. They are based around activity and nutrition, with the goal of reducing kids’ weight.
This past spring, Riley ran a pilot program in 19 Indiana schools. With the response overwhelmingly positive, the program is now open to every school in the state starting Sept. 8.
“It’s a great interactive way for kids to get involved,” Sperring said of the challenge.
Tuesday’s Change the Play event was intended to increase of awareness of the eight-week challenge.
With different stations on the field, the kids were able do various activities with different IU athletes and Luck.
One of the stations was catching passes from Luck and IU quaterback Nate Sudfeld. The kids lined up, one by one, and ran routes while catching passes from the pair of quarterbacks.
When Luck was asked whether he was worried about throwing passes too hard for the children, Luck said he need not worry about Indiana kids.
“Indiana kids are tough, and I know they have good hands.” Luck said.
