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Hershey's
STRIVE Award Program
Bertha Bostrom
Volunteer of the Year
American Youth Soccer Organization
Lake Park, Florida
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Sally S. Johnson, Executive Director
National Council of Youth Sports
772-781-1452
youthsports@ncys.org
79-YEAR-OLD FLORIDA WOMAN REDEFINES RETIREMENT, NAMED YOUTH SPORTS “VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR” FOR EFFORTS
Coach and administrators among others recognized in national program
LAKE PARK, Fla. (September 13, 2004) – At an age when most are more than a decade into retirement, 79-year-old Bertha “Bert” Bostrom is working harder than ever – and every hour of it is unpaid. Her most recent labor of love began in the fall of 2002, when she decided it was time to bring youth sports and recreational programs back to the West Palm Beach suburb of Lake Park, Fla.
Today, as the founder of the Lake Park Recreation Association, the lifelong Floridian spends as many as 40 hours each week painting, weeding, mentoring, and inspiring area youths. For her efforts, she has been recognized with the first-ever Hershey’s STRIVE Volunteer of the Year award (STRIVE – Sports Teach Respect, Initiative, Values and Excellence).
“Bert is the one out on the fields repainting the lines so the kids can play. She has also painted and repaired bathrooms and organized soccer clinics,” said longtime friend Donna Balius, who was one of three people to nominate her for the honor.
Bertha is just one of five youth sports leaders recognized nationwide. The awards are presented by the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) and Hershey’s Fund Raising. To commemorate her award, Bertha will be given a check for $2,500, which she has announced will be donated to Lake Park’s American Youth Soccer league.
In addition to organizing fundraisers and lobbying for more than $150,000 in grants, Bertha also spearheaded efforts to have field lighting repaired and even convinced town commissioners to pitch in by pulling weeds. In her spare time, she writes a weekly column about the Recreation Association in the town’s weekly newspaper.
Bertha chose soccer to start the town’s athletic program, due largely to the sport’s minimal start-up costs and its popularity among the Lake Park’s Caribbean population. To learn more about the sport she herself had never played, Bertha attended national soccer conferences and sought the guidance of professional sports educators.
Today, Lake Park’s soccer league is recognized by the American Youth Soccer Organization and boasts a membership of more than 100 area youths. This summer’s athletic program also includes T-ball, baseball and softball.
Opportunities and challenges
For Bertha – born in 1925 and raised in a struggling family – sports were an outlet and a path to greater things. In high school she captured seven varsity letters in field hockey, basketball and tennis. Those skills earned her a full scholarship to Philadelphia’s Temple University, where she played on four of the college’s sports teams, including softball.
Her success at the college level soon caught the attention of national scouts. Mid-way through her sophomore year, Bertha was recruited to play professional golf and softball, in the same women’s leagues portrayed in the film “A League of Their Own.” Bertha declined, however, in order to retain her amateur status and, with it, her scholarship. When her father lost his job one year later, she left college to work and raise money for a family struggling to make ends meet.
She would later marry and have children of her own, moving to Lake Park in the mid-1960s. Under her leadership, the community’s youth sports program flourished in the 1970s and 80s, but a car accident almost put an end to Bertha’s active lifestyle.
“With the severity of the back injuries she suffered in that accident, doctors thought that she might never walk again,” said Bertha’s daughter, Patricia Plasket. “Needless to say, she proved them wrong.”
In fact, the feisty athlete’s playing and coaching days were far from over. In one of Bertha’s most active seasons – several years after the accident – she coached three youth teams and played in an adult mixed league. But the injury still plagues Bertha; a pain worsened by a knee injury suffered a decade ago when a dump truck backed into her parked car.
“Sports have had such an impact on her life,” said Plasket. “They gave her an outlet and an opportunity to go to college. She recognizes those same opportunities for the youth of Lake Park, many of whom cannot afford to go to college or would be lost without sports in their daily lives.”
Others agree. “Her work for our children has been a blessing for our town,” said neighbor Storm Normi. “She alone is the motivational tool affecting positive changes in our town management – changes our residents have literally prayed for over the past few years.”
A September 2003 birthday card from a Lake Park resident to Bertha summarized the town’s appreciation: “Thank you Bert for all you do. You have made Lake Park a better place to live.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information about Bertha Bostrom or the award,
please contact Sally Cunningham at (772) 781-1452 or youthspts@aol.com.
| ABOUT The NCYS:
The National Council of Youth
Sports (NCYS) comprises the
who's who in the youth sports
industry. Its membership represents
more than 180 organizations/corporations
serving 52-million boys and
girls participating in organized
youth sports throughout the
United States. NCYS members
include organizations such
as: Little League Baseball,
Pop Warner Football, U.S.
Youth Soccer Association,
United States Olympic Committee,
and Boys & Girls Clubs
of America.
To learn more about the NCYS
visit www.ncys.org.
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ABOUT The Hershey Company:
The Hershey Company has long
offered successful fundraising
programs for youth in America.
Its sponsorship of the STRIVE
Awards stems from The Hershey
Company's devotion to helping
children of all ages to "Dream,
Reach and Succeed" in
everything that they do. For
more information about The
Hershey Company and its fundraising
programs, visit www.hersheysfundraising.com.
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