Members and staff from the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore spent Friday afternoon, Oct. 27, on the Muskegon Community College campus participating in the Meijer State Games of Michigan – Adopt An Athlete Program, which included a motivational talk by former U.S. Olympian Gary Morgan.
The mission of the program is to mentor, lead and impact low-income children by celebrating sports and emphasizing the importance of academic achievement.
The local club members played speedball inside MCC’s Bartels-Rode Gymnasium. Following lunch, they were inspired by Morgan’s talk about his experiences and the values he learned as an Olympic competitor.
A Clarkston, MI, native, Morgan was the top American 20-kilomter racewalker in 1988 and competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where he finished 37th in the world. He competed at every US Olympic Trials as a walker from 1984-2004. During his career, Morgan also competed at the Pan American Games, the World Championships, the World Cup, and the Goodwill Games. He was inducted into the Michigan Sport Hall of Fame, and in 2011, he was awarded the Jackie Joyner Kersee Award for dedication to track and field and community service.
The club members then competed in archery tag before touring the MCC campus and receiving State Games certificates, medals and athletic bags.
For more information on the Adopt An Athlete Program, contact Cody Jacobs at cjacobs@stategamesofmichigan.com.