ESPN designates ‘SportsCenter Top 10 Day’ by recognizing local youth athletes
Over the past month, ESPN has been traveling to the hometowns of young and amateur athletes whose plays have been featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the day, the #SCTop10. Today (10 October) has been designated ‘SportsCenter Top 10 Day’ by the sports network, to celebrate the people and places behind the plays.
ESPN designates 10 October as SportsCenter Top 10 Day
‘SportsCenter Top 10 Day’ will kick off ESPN’s new and ongoing initiative to recognize those athletes that prove that greatness can happen anywhere, any time.
To date, nine athletes from across the country have been celebrated by ESPN in their hometowns, surrounded by their families, friends and local communities. Unique and custom public installations that pay homage to their #SCTop10 plays were revealed to the athletes as part of larger celebrations. ESPN worked with creative agency Preacher on the nationwide tour, which designated each town as ‘Home of SC Top 10.’
The tour culminates today with SportsCenter anchor John Anderson on site in Liberal, Missouri, for a live reveal with softball player Brooke Bearden during the noon ET hour of SportsCenter. As a senior at Liberal High School, Bearden suffered from a stroke but didn’t want to give up on her favorite sport. After months of rehab and unwavering positivity, she did the extraordinary and walked out onto the softball field surrounded by cheering teammates.
Throughout the day ESPN will air nine more vignettes featuring each of the athletes from #SCTop10 and their hometown commemorations. The young stars featured during SportsCenter on ESPN include Ashlynn Jolicoeur for her amazing outfield skills; Emery Dupes for her crowd-leaping volleyball save/dig; Henry Parrish, Jr for his electrifying touchdown run; Katie Starr for her over-the-fence catch; Jaila Roberts for her half-court game winner; Teddy Townsend for his buzzer beater face-off goal; Kyle Ginn for his pinch-hit home run; Fran Belibi for her incredible in-game dunk; and James Kahaleua for his unbelievable one-handed catch.
Aside from the tour activations, ESPN also put together a highlight video of the athletes and their Top 10-worthy plays.
“The reaction in every hometown we visited has been overwhelming,” said Laura Gentile, senior vice-president of marketing, ESPN. “To celebrate these athletes and their accomplishments, and to bring the ESPN spirit to their communities has been gratifying beyond measure. It illustrates the power and beauty of sports, and has been an inspiring way to kick off our #SCTop10 efforts.”
Moving forward, SportsCenter will continue to celebrate the next generation of Top 10 athletes with a rewards kit, including SportsCenter-branded memorabilia, which will allow athletes to share and archive their achievements, and digital assets they can share to commemorate their accomplishment on social platforms.
See some of the activations by clicking on the Creative Works box below.
