Schools to Participate in Program to Better Student Athletes

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, that this spring his office will again be sponsoring The Uncommon Athlete, a program of Rachel’s Challenge and the Cal Ripken, Sr., Foundation. The April events will continue the success of The Uncommon Athlete presentations that District Attorney Hoovler has sponsored in Orange County during the last three years. To date, the District Attorney has sponsored presentations of The Uncommon Athlete twelve times at area high schools, presentations that involved approximately 4,000 student athletes.

The Uncommon Athlete is designed to bring to student athletes some tools that they can use to make themselves not only better athletes, but better citizens, and to help them to realize their potential as future leaders of our communities. The program impresses on young athletes the values of Perseverance, Relationships, Integrity, Courage, and Empathy (PRICE). Cody Hodges, former Texas Tech and Tennessee Titans quarterback, provides a moving presentation that promises to leave an impression on everyone in the audience.

District Attorney Hoovler will be sponsoring The Uncommon Athlete events on April 9 and 10, 2019, at the high schools and middle schools in the Minisink Valley Central School District and the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District. Specific times and venues will be announced. Other schools attending the events may be added in each of those venues.

In addition, District Attorney Hoovler intends to sponsor The Uncommon Athlete in other area schools in the fall of 2019.

“Too much bad behavior on the part of students occurs in the context of school sports,” said District Attorney Hoovler, “among athletes whose position in our schools often makes them role models for other students. We owe it to our children to strive to make their role models positive. The Uncommon Athlete seeks to do just that, provide student athletes with strategies to make them positive influences on other students. I’m proud to have brought The Uncommon Athlete to our area, and I hope that the program helps in making our schools into better places for our children to learn and grow.”