No Time-Outs For The Hartford In San Antonio and Tampa During NCAA(R) Final Four(R) Weekend
2008-04-02 23:46:55 -
www.thehartford.com - The Hartford Clark Finley, 860-547-4938 GClark.Finley@thehartford.com or Kelly Carter, 860-843-9420 Kelly.Carter@hartfordlife.com The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies and an official corporate partner of the NCAA, heads into a busy Final Four weekend with lead sponsorships of prominent fan-focused programs surrounding the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships in San Antonio, Tex. and Tampa, Fla. Among The Hartford-supported activities is the inaugural 4Kay Run/Walk presented by The Hartford, The Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford, wheelchair basketball exhibitions by U.S. Paralympic athletes at NCAA(R) Hoop City(R) refreshed by Coca-Cola(R) and The Hartford's award-winning Playbook for Life financial literacy program.
"The Hartford's partnership with the NCAA is built on our organizations' commitment to education, integrity and winning spirit, and there is not a grander celebration of those values than during this championship weekend," said Connie Weaver, The Hartford's senior vice president, marketing and communications. "Our Final Four partnerships and programs are valuable and exciting components of the company's integrated marketing campaign that extends The Hartford's trusted brand to a large national audience."
4Kay Run presented by The Hartford
The Hartford is teaming up with North Carolina State University's head women's basketball coach Kay Yow and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund to serve as the inaugural presenting sponsor of the 4Kay Run/Walk on Saturday, April 5 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four. All proceeds from the race will benefit women's cancer research through the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund and its affiliation with The V Foundation. The Hartford is also the founding sponsor of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Foundation, which oversees the fund's operations.
Coach Yow has served as head coach at North Carolina State for 31 years and is only one of six women's basketball coaches to reach 700 wins. She also was the head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team in 1988 and earned induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford
In January 2006, The Hartford launched a multi-year partnership with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to promote the prestigious Cousy Award, an honor established in 2004 and presented annually to the nation's top point guard in men's collegiate basketball. The annual award pays tribute to legendary Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, who revolutionized the point guard position for the Boston Celtics during the 1950's and '60's with his exceptional court vision, creativity and leadership.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) is the voting body that determines the best point guard based on the criteria of core basketball skills and the ability to direct successful team play. The winner will be announced on Monday, April 7 in San Antonio.
NCAA Hoop City refreshed by Coca-Cola
As one of the most popular fan festival events surrounding championship weekend, The Hartford returns to Hoop City to present a series of basketball exhibitions by members of the U.S. Paralympic men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams.
These world champion athletes will display their skills on the hardwood with a series of scrimmages on NCAA Hoop City's center court. Basketball fans also can try playing wheelchair basketball at The Hartford's half-court at Hoop City.
The schedule for exhibition games at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio is as follows:
-- Friday, April 4 at 11:25 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
-- Saturday, April 5 at 11:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
-- Sunday, April 6 at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
-- Monday, April 7 at 12:00 p.m.
The exhibitions for the U.S. Paralympic team in conjunction with the Women's Final Four will be at the Tampa Convention Center on Sunday, April 6 at 12:15 p.m. and on Monday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
This is the third consecutive trip to Hoop City and the Final Four for members of the team. A division of the United States Olympic Committee, the U.S. Paralympics is committed to becoming the world leader in the Paralympics sports movement and promoting excellence in the lives of people with physical disabilities. Through partnerships with organizations across the country, the U.S. Paralympics plans to expand its program into 250 American cities by 2012.
Playbook for Life
On Thursday, April 3, The Hartford will kick off its Final Four activities when it bring its award-winning Playbook for Life financial literacy program to student-athletes at the two host institutions of the NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours, The University of Texas at San Antonio and University of South Florida. The program, developed in collaboration with the NCAA, gives student-athletes and all college students the basic financial knowledge required for success after graduation.
Earlier this month, The Hartford announced that legendary basketball commentator and author Dick Vitale joined the Playbook for Life team and will be one of the All-Star instructors for the University of Texas at San Antonio event, along with Team Hartford Captain and former Notre Dame and NFL running back Allen Pinkett and former Columbia University offensive lineman Bill Zimmerman. At the University of South Florida event, former U.S. Olympian and Old Dominion University and WNBA star Nancy Lieberman is teaming up with University of Hartford head men's golf coach Bill Poutre to talk to students about life lessons and the ways they can put their financial lives in order.
Since the program's inception in March 2005, the Playbook for Life has earned wide praise by student-athletes, college students, professors and parents as an excellent resource to build a solid financial foundation. To date, members of Team Hartford have brought this program into classrooms at more than 30 colleges and universities and distributed more than 180,000 program guidebooks.
About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaasports.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.
NCAA, Final Four and Hoop City are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
About The Hartford
The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, with 2007 revenues of $25.9 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Ireland. The Hartford's Internet address is www.thehartford.com.
HIG-C
Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.
¶ The Hartford expands busy slate of sponsorship activities during
NCAA Championship weekend
