FSN Debuts "Operation: Field Rescue" on Thanksgiving Day
National Hotline Established to develop nationwide interest in "rescuing" fields
(Horrow Sports Ventures)
It’s a story about hope. About change. About how corporations can join with communities; dreams can trump desolation, and how something as modest as a kids’ sports field can impact generations.
On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22, at 8:00 and 11:00 PM local (Philadelphia), Fox Sports Net and Co-Executive Producers Rick Horrow and Phil Tuckett present OPERATION: FIELD RESCUE, a program showing how the seemingly simple act of rebuilding a football field can change lives and refresh civic pride.
Hosted by Philadelphia Eagles legend Vince Papale ("Invincible") and FSN’s Laura Okmin, OPERATION: FIELD RESCUE is themed around identifying an American community youth sports facility in an extreme state of disrepair and "rescuing" it into a top-notch sports center for kids in need. OPERATION: FIELD RESCUE takes viewers along the six-month journey of a massive project – the obstacles, the successes, the deadlines and the final result of physically and mentally reinventing a neighborhood through its youth sports center, making it a place that is, in Okmin’s words, “safe from the city’s harsh realities.”
The pilot episode focuses on Philadelphia's downtrodden Billy Gambrel Recreation Center, home of Pop Warner's Frankford Chargers, Philadelphia's "winningest" youth football team. The field has served neighborhood teams dating back to the early 1900's, and was reportedly used by the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the team that ultimately became the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Gambrel Center was a field in disarray. The goalposts, constructed out of plumbing pipes, teetered behind the end zone. Shards of glass, sharp rocks and trash filled the field where green turf, hash-marks, and sidelines should have been.
Horrow, also FOX Sports Business Analyst, laid the blueprint for the renovation project, enlisting corporate sponsorship from the Eagles, Comcast-Spectacor, AstroTurf, Pop Warner, other local and national businesses, and community volunteers and pointed them all towards one goal.
More than $2.6 million was raised and Gambrel Center was transformed into a glistening sports destination, complete with a custom-made AstroTurf field, new scoreboard, and round-the-clock security measures to ensure kids would always have a safe place to play.
Horrow reflects on the accomplishment. "This process leverages manpower, goods, and services from all of our pioneer partners,” he says, “and provides a working model that can be used on a national basis."
To that end, Horrow and Tuckett, a former NFL player, who won 30 Emmy Awards during a 38-year career at NFL Films, announce the creation of a national process in conjunction with the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS). The NCYS includes 182 members whose organizations in turn include 52 million young participants in all aspects of youth sports – including Pop Warner.
“For the Kids: Operation Field Rescue Hotline" has been established to develop nationwide interest in "rescuing" fields, gymnasiums, basketball courts, recreation centers and other downtrodden facilities. The Hotline number is (561) 743-6408. Public officials, recreational organizations, amateur sports associations, and others are invited to register their field to receive a makeover. You can also visit www.fieldrescue.com for more information.
“By improving the quality of lives for thousands of kids, this show is a success even before it hits air,” says FSN Executive Vice President of Programming and Production George Greenberg. “The story of the people they chronicled and the incredible sponsors that stepped up to the plate, with nothing to gain, is absolutely amazing.”
