WTHR |Circle City Classic adds more events
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Indianapolis - The Circle City Classic takes place in downtown Indianapolis this weekend. The event ranks as the seventh highest event for economic impact on downtown, bringing in $14.8 million in revenue.
Hip Hop Singer Romeo is back with a new group. On hiatus to play basketball and attend college at USC, he and his father Master P shared real life stories at Tech High School.
"You have a choice and education is so important. Education saves lives. It saved my life," he told the students.
Gold medal swimmer Cullen Jones and 2004 Silver medal Sprinter Maurice Greene brought Olympic sized motivation to the Coaches Luncheon recipients of the Major Taylor award.
"Such a wide range of people come to an event like this and I'm just so happy to be able to be a part of it," Jones said.
"I think it's good that the black colleges are stepping up and giving all the scholarships that they're giving," said Greene.
Both Greene and Jones were honored for their positive roles in the lives of children.
Jones has helped thousands of children learn how to swim through his Make a Splash program, reducing the number of drownings among minorities. Greene, also seen on the TV show Dancing with the Stars, works with young athletes through his Finish the Race Youth Foundation.
Encouraging young people to succeed in life is what this weekend is all about.
"People forget that all the money raised for the Circle City Classic at the football game goes to scholarships. Today, we've raised over $2 million in scholarships, and we also have a partnership with Indiana Black Alumni Council, they've been around for 30 years, and they've raised $30 million in 30 years. So that's a tremendous amount of money to raise for young people," said Marc Williams, Circle City Classic.
Friday's events also included the Pep Rally, Master P's talk at Tech HS, and Classic Cabaret at 8:00 pm.
The executive director says the events and even the scholarships are not just for one demographic anymore. Since all the proceeds from the football game go to college scholarships, Williams says they wanted to diversify events to attract even more visitors this year.
For example, before the rematch Saturday between Alabama A&M and Tuskegee University and the popular halftime show, the Circle City Classic will host a Sports X-Perience for fans on the lower level of Lucas Oil Stadium underneath the football field. USA gymnastics, Track & Field, Lacrosse, Football, Fencing, and the NCAA will all bring their interactive displays, video games, and equipment to educate people of all ages and races about sports.
"We think some of those things will attract more people and help bring in another demographic because, 90 percent of the people that go to classic are African-American, and we're like, that's great, but we also want people in the community to know, it's not a black event. It's an event for the community. The same as it is at the Indy 500. And we want people to see and embrace the energy and essence of what we're trying to do at Circle City Classic. It's not about race or color, but about educating young people and getting young people into schools," said Williams.
Tomorrow before the game, the Classic Parade begins at 10:00 am at North and Pennsylvania Streets. Then the Sports X-Perience opens at 11:00 am at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kick-off for the game is at 4:00 pm.
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