INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA and the Philadelphia Local Organizing Committee will make a donation of $25,000 to the Beat the Streets Philadelphia organization as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. In addition, the NCAA and Beat the Streets Philadelphia will team up to sponsor a wrestling youth clinic during the championships.

The clinic will take place on Tuesday, March 15, at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Wells Fargo Center.

“The NCAA is committed to supporting the academic and athletic pursuits of young people as they prepare themselves for the future,” said Joni Comstock, NCAA senior vice president of championships. “Beat the Streets Philadelphia has shown they have similar goals for the local youth and it’s exciting for us to help with this initiative.”

Beat the Streets’ goal is to use the sport of wrestling to reach as many kids as possible to help them develop character traits that will allow them to succeed not only on the wrestling mat, but in the classroom and in life.

“Beat the Streets Philadelphia is extremely humbled and thankful for such a generous donation by the NCAA,” said Chris Hanlon, executive director of Beat the Streets Philadelphia. “This support will allow us to create opportunities for a large number of youth student-athletes in the inner city of Philadelphia. It is truly a testament to the NCAA’s effort to leave a positive impact on the community of Philadelphia following the 2011 Division I Wrestling Championships.”

“Beat the Streets is providing invaluable new opportunities for youth in Philadelphia,” said Roger Reina, chairman of the Philadelphia Local Organizing Committee. “The sport of amateur wrestling provides meaningful life lessons in determination, commitment, dedication and perseverance. We celebrate the NCAA’s vision and generosity to support Beat the Streets, providing an even broader impact on young lives here in our city.”

Approximately 240 youth wrestlers are scheduled to take part in the clinic, with the majority of them being wrestlers who participate on one of eight youth programs that Beat the Streets sponsors throughout Philadelphia’s inner city. The clinic will feature a number of current and former wrestling coaches and student-athletes as instructors, including: Matt Valenti, assistant wrestling coach at the University of Pennsylvania and two-time NCAA Division I National Champion; Brandon Slay, two-time NCAA Division I wrestling All-American at the University of Pennsylvania and 2000 Olympic gold medalist; and Doug Umbehauer, 2009 NCAA Division I wrestling All-American at Rider University.

The 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held from March 17-19 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. For more information on the Division I Wrestling Championships, log on to www.NCAA.com/wrestling.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola —and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Enterprise, The Hartford, Infiniti, LG, Lowe’s, Planters, Reese’s, Unilever and UPS.

About Beat the Streets Philadelphia

The Beat the Streets Wrestling Program of Philadelphia is committed to helping establish youth wrestling programs in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. The organization will attempt to foster the holistic development of student-athletes by providing the resources to support an athletic program and an academic tutoring program across a group of local schools and community programs. For more information, visit www.btsphilly.org.