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James Logan Clinic "Evening of Champions
Dinner "

Crown Plaza Hotel
Union City

Saturday, February 4, 2006 6:30 PM
from Ron Mickle

Coach Lee Webb of Logan High School is an amazing coach. This past February, Coach Webb conducted his 18th Olympian Clinic at Logan High School. In attendance at this clinic, were 1,700 young athletes, 100 track and field coaches and 40 Olympians. What makes this clinic special is the opportunity for each young athlete to have an Olympian give him or her personal instruction. Imagine how you would feel if you were a young high jumper and Dick Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic Champion were giving you personal instruction? The same would be true if you were a young long jumper and Michael Powell, the world record holder in the long jump (29’ 4 ½”) was giving you tips on how to improve you technique. This happens over and over again with the more than 40 Olympians available to help out.

Ed Fox, the publisher of Track and Field News, thinks that Coach Webb’s clinic is the premier training clinic in the United States. After the most recent clinic, I sat down for a personal conversation with Lee. I was astounded to find out that he had to personally underwrite over $5,000 of the expenses from his teaching salary. In my mind, this was not fair to Coach Webb and I asked him if I could come on board and raise additional funds. He was thankful for my offer and welcomed me on board.

Normally, the clinic is conducted over two days. On Friday, a golf tournament is held and the clinic is held all day on Saturday. We decided to create an “Evening of Champions” dinner to be held on Saturday evening following the clinic. I have been surprised with the positive reactions we have had to this dinner. At the dinner, we are planning to feature certain athletes like: Bruce Jenner, Dick Fosbury, Marilym King, Michael Powell and more. We will have video clips for all to see and we anticipate that this will be a very powerful and motivating evening. The Crown Plaza in Union City has been kind enough to waive the normal $1,000 fee for their main ballroom in order to accommodate this very worthy cause. We are planning on having 370 guests, which equals 37 tables with 10 guests per table. My idea has been to approach business owners and have them purchase a table at a cost of $500. The hotel will require one half of this amount and the balance will go to cover the cost of conduction the clinic. This could generate close to $10,000 for Coach Webb.

Currently, we have a number of companies that have decided to support the clinic. PG@ E, the University of Phoenix, Pentech Financial Services, Oakland’s Police Athletic League, Thiels Tire of Union City, Craig Masback and more. I am hoping that I can have the tables sold by the end of October so that I can focus my time on the golf tournament. If a business owner, for example, sends four reps to the dinner, which will allow us to distribute the remaining six seats to five deserving young athletes and 1 Olympian.

This spring, Coach Webb lost his wife to a lung illness and is faced with raising his young daughters by himself. This fact provided me with a much deeper motivation to lend a helping hand.

I have attached a few documents to this letter: (1) Flyer on the 2005 Willie Davenport Clinic (2) Letter I e-mailed to Craig Mossback, the CEO of the United States Track and Field Association (3) An e-mail that I received from Derek Toliver, who will provide priceless video clips on the Olympians (4) A document announcing The Evening of Champions and a Letter from Bruce Jenner.

Craig Masback, the CEO of the United States Track & Field Association is very aware of Coach Webb’s clinic and decided to purchase a table personally even though he will not be able to attend due to a conflict in his schedule. Craig also indicated, that he will be sending personal representatives to promote his national program “Be A Champion” which is concentrating on the nation’s problem with over-weight young people and the resultant concerns about the treat of diabetes to these at-risk individuals.

Finally, I am very thankful for the time you have provided me at your meeting. Based on my early success with business owners, I do not anticipate any major difficulty in promoting the Evening of Champions. If your organization feels that this cause measures up to your standards for providing assistance, I would be most grateful for your support.

Sincerely yours,

Ron Mickle (408) 264-6182 [email protected]

Argus Newspaper Article

2006 Inaugural “Evening of Champions”
Mission Valley Track & Field Club
James Logan High School Track & Field Team
Cordially Invite You To Their…

2006 Inaugural
“Evening of Champions”
Saturday, February 4, 2006 6:30 PM

Crown Plaza Hotel
32083 Alvarado-Niles Road Union City, CA 94587
Tables of 10- $600 / Individuals- $60
Seating is Limited
Entertainment by:

U. S. Olympians & World Record Holders
R.S.V.P. – Ron Mickle- (408) 229-8854
E-Mail: [email protected]
Vivian Disano (650) 438-3837

Non Profit IRS# 94-3131101
Mission Valley Track & Field Club