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Press Releases: 2009

Healthy Hoops Upstate Challenge a Slam Dunk

Participants Receive Valuable Asthma Education

The excitement was in the air this past weekend as over 50 asthmatic children took to the court at the Healthy Hoops Upstate Challenge, a free one-day basketball event for children ages 7 to 15 and their families. Presented by Select Health of South Carolina, the Upstate Challenge provided children with free asthma education, health screenings and basketball instruction from Clemson University Head Men's Basketball Coach Oliver Purnell, Southern Wesleyan University's Head Women's Basketball Coach LaCheryl Smith, and other basketball pros.

"The Healthy Hoops Upstate Challenge was a tremendous success," said Terry Davenport, Community Relations Director at Select Health. "We were able to teach many asthmatic children how to properly treat their asthma while still maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle."

The Upstate Challenge is just one of the many Healthy Hoops events taking place throughout the year. The Healthy Hoops program, implemented in South Carolina in 2004, is an initiative that teaches children with asthma and their families how to better manage the disease through appropriate medication usage, proper nutrition, monitored exercise and recreational activities.

The Upstate Challenge was also sponsored by the Caine Halter Family YMCA, the South Carolina Asthma Alliance, AmeriHealth Mercy and the Healthy Hoops Coalition, which includes a host of community partners. For more information on the Healthy Hoops program, visit www.selecthealthofsc.com or call 1-888-HOOPS-SC.

About Select Health
Incorporated in 1995, Select Health was licensed as a Health Maintenance Organization by the South Carolina Department of Insurance in 1996.  Later that year, the company contracted with the Department of Health and Human Services to offer First Choice, the state’s first Medicaid health plan. Select Health is accredited by URAC and is a wholly owned subsidiary of AmeriHealth Mercy. The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies touches the lives of more than 6.2 million members nationwide. For more information, visit www.selecthealthofsc.com.

About The Healthy Hoops Coalition
The Healthy Hoops® Coalition serves as a steering committee for the Upstate Healthy Hoops Program and includes the following organizations: AstraZeneca, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Caine Halter Family YMCA, City of Greenville Parks & Recreation, Communities In Schools, DHEC, Elite Speed & Strength, Family Connection of SC, Greenville County Sheriffs Office, Greenville Family Partnership, Greenville Hospital Systems, Greenville Technical College, Kool Smiles, Medshore Ambulance Services, New Horizon Family Health Services, Reedy River Missionary Baptist Church, Schering-Plough, SC Association of School Nurses, SC Asthma Alliance and the SC Society for Respiratory Care.