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NFL Kicks In $1 Million To Expand 2 Local Youth Centers

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By RICH SHOPES

rshopes@tampatrib.com

Published: January 2, 2009

TAMPA - Two neighborhood recreation centers will expand this year thanks to the Super Bowl.

The NFL has donated $1 million to expand the Mort NFL YET Recreation Center and Jackson Heights NFL YET Center. Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa are matching the donation with $500,000 each.

"It's the NFL's way of giving back," said Stephanie Owens Royster, executive director of NFL YET Tampa Bay. YET stands for Youth Education Town.

The expansions are scheduled to begin Feb. 1, the day of the game, and last about nine months.

The two centers were created after a similar donation by the NFL in 2001. The league has made donations to Super Bowl host cities each of the past 15 years to create recreation centers and after-school programs in low-income neighborhoods.

This year's donation will pay for two multipurpose rooms to house the centers' media arts programs and pay for the programs' expansion.

The programs are led by instructors from the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. They're popular among youths for offering instruction in making hip-hop recordings and news-type segments on digital cameras. The six-week courses are held after school and offered to 15 to 20 children ranging from 12 to 15 years old.

"This is about discipline, teamwork, communication and feeling good about yourself. Media arts is a skill," said Leslie Shepard, director of academic affairs at the Patel Conservatory.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

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