Karson, 11, and his “Big Brother” Jeff Terreros of Yorba Linda played soccer, bean bag toss, Frisbee, and other activities Saturday as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire’s seventh annual UnitedHealthcare Sports Day event at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley. A highlight of the day, though, was a bike ride led by UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team member Katie Hall. “It was really far. I like looking around the park. There are a lot of different things here,” said Karson of Yorba Linda.
Karson, 11, and his “Big Brother” Jeff Terreros of Yorba Linda played soccer, bean bag toss, Frisbee, and other activities Saturday as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire’s seventh annual UnitedHealthcare Sports Day event at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley. A highlight of the day, though, was a bike ride led by UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team member Katie Hall. “It was really far. I like looking around the park. There are a lot of different things here,” said Karson of Yorba Linda. “It was just cool to know that someone that was professional was leading this.” Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire drew several hundred children and their volunteer mentors out Saturday to test their cycling, soccer, volleyball and other athletic skills and learn about fitness and better health at the UnitedHealthcare Sports Day event. It is the largest event of the year for the Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter. UnitedHealthcare Sports Day is part of the “Big F.U.N.” program, which stands for Fitness, Understanding, and Nutrition. It is a month-long series of events sponsored by UnitedHealthcare to help encourage healthy habits among children participating with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire. “There’s something for every fitness level,” said Kawain Payne of Garden Grove, who attended with her “Little Sister” Estefani, 8, of Santa Ana. “It’s nice that it’s been in a fun way vs. competitive. This is something where they are free to have fun, and the great side effect to that is they’re getting exercise.” Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County provides youth ages 6 through 18 with one-to-one relationship with an adult mentor that is consistent, ongoing, supportive, educational, safe and fun. UnitedHealthcare has been a supporter of the nonprofit and has sponsored the sports, fun and fitness day for several years. “It’s great to see everyone have fun in all the sports and fitness day activities,” said Rob Falkenberg of UnitedHealthcare. “UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire and all the good work they do for kids in the local community. Today was really about the kids and their mentors.” Several kids and their volunteer mentors said participating in activities with others in the program also was an important part of the program. UnitedHealthcare employee Christy Stoeckel, who has served as a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters for 14 years, played volleyball at the event with her “Little Sister” April, 18, of Costa Mesa. “We look forward to that every year. We like the different sports. We love playing volleyball,” Stoeckel said. “This event is just a good celebration of the agency.”
