Milwaukee ’s most talented middle-school youth will compete for local bragging rights in art, chess and basketball during the fifth annual “March of Champions” tournament March 25-27 at the Mother Daniels Conference Center. It is located at 3500 W. Mother Daniels Way. “March of Champions” is a partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Mother Kathryn Daniels Conference Center, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and Milwaukee Recreation. The basketball games, chess matches and art exhibit will begin at 5 p.m. on March 25.
On March of Champions’ first day of competition, 38 teams middle school students who are members of a MPS Community Learning Center (CLC) or a Boys & Girls Club will have their original artwork on display. Tournament guests will vote on the top three art pieces. All of the artwork will be on display at the Mother Kathryn Daniels Conference Center/Daniels-Mardak Boys & Girls Club and will depict the theme, “Champion in Your Community.” The top three art team winners announced at the end of the March of Champions Tournament on Sunday, March 27. Also on March 25, the chess tournament will take place with over 250 chess players matching wits and strategies to be named the champion.
For the basketball tournament March 25-27, teams will consist of sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys and girls from various public, private, choice and charter schools. The “Final Four” will face each other starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 27.
At half time of the girls and boys finals, March of Champions organizers will salute their 2011 Community Champions Norm McGee, Sport & Fitness Director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and Valerie Daniels-Carter, president & CEO of V& J Holding Companies, Inc. Both are MPS alums who are being honored for their athletic and professional achievements as well as their contributions as community leaders. McGee is a graduate of West Division High School and former member of the San Francisco 49ers. Daniels-Carter is a graduate of Custer High School and was drafted by the Milwaukee Does, a female professional basketball team. The March of Champions is supported by the Evinrude Foundation, The Chess Club, the Fellowship Open and North Milwaukee State Bank.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee is the oldest and largest youth-serving agency in Milwaukee. It offers after-school and summer programming for children ages 5-18, focusing on those who have major life obstacles, most often poverty. The Clubs operates 40 sites, which include six primary locations, 32 school sites, Camp Whitcomb/ Mason in Hartland and an extension site at the Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales. Membership to the Clubs is only $5 per year, per child, but no one is ever turned away based on inability to pay.
For more information, visit the Club’s Web site at www.boysgirlsclubs.org.
