Adidas has signed on as a major sponsor of the 2015 Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge, a nationwide competition in which colleges and universities across the country try to get the most people recreating outdoors.
The six-week, Mother-Nature-meets-March-Madness-style competition will kick off in September. In addition, outdoor brands Osprey and CamelBak along with presenting sponsors, The North Face and REI, have joined Adidas, supporting the 2015 ON Campus Challenge.
“Adidas Outdoors is proud to be a part of the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge this year,” said Diane Kay, spokesperson for Adidas Outdoor. “We are excited to see all the creative ways the students find to get outside and active.”
“We are so thankful to Adidas for its leadership, commitment and support,” said Chris Fanning, executive director of the Outdoor Foundation, the organization that founded the Outdoor Nation initiative. “With this generous sponsorship, the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge
will engage more college campuses, activate more young people and
ultimately get more Americans into the great outdoors.”
The 2015 Campus Challenge is expected to activate 50,000 young people in outdoor recreation, engaging up to 50 colleges. Schools with the most outdoor activities logged by the most people in their campus network (students, faculty, alumni and local community) will advance in the competition as well as receive grants for continued outdoor activation. The top school with the most participants and outdoor activities will be named the National Outdoor Champion; the overall top individual will be crowned Outsider of the Year. Register here for the Challenge from now through May 1, 2015.
The Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge Challenge started in 2014 to help combat the inactivity crisis prevalent among youth and young adults in America. The statistics are staggering. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average young person spends eight hours in front of a screen and only eight minutes outside and active.
Last year, in its pilot program, the Campus Challenge engaged ten colleges and universities. In just eight weeks, 8,390 participants logged almost 44,000 outdoor activities, with many schools reporting a major surge in campus-wide interest in outdoor recreation. Many outdoor programs and outing club members served as organizers for the Challenge – planning school-wide activities, promoting individual participation and introducing new outdoor activities to spark interest.
The winner of the 2014 competition was the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University (CSB/SJU) in Collegeville, Minnesota. The university received a gear bank, sponsored by The North Face, that includes technical packs, tents, sleeping bags and more. The school also held a campus-wide celebration to honor their accomplishment.
About the Outdoor Foundation & Outdoor Nation
The Outdoor Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and growing future generations of outdoor enthusiasts. Through groundbreaking research, action-oriented outreach and education programs, the Foundation works with partners to mobilize a major cultural shift that leads all Americans to the great outdoors. In 2010, the Foundation launched Outdoor Nation, a pioneering initiative that aims to empower young leaders to champion the outdoors on campuses and in communities across the United States.
