SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - February 15, 2011) - Playworld Systems, a leading manufacturer of imaginative playground equipment, today announced its latest playground build in partnership with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit group dedicated to saving play. The new multigenerational, accessible play area is located at the Spring Valley and East Communities Center, where children, parents and grandparents can enjoy playing and exercising together in a fun, safe environment.
The funding for the park was largely provided by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), which has sponsored playgrounds for its annual meeting host city since 2000. The playground build commences today, the first day of the AAOS 2011 Annual Meeting, when hundreds of volunteers including orthopedic surgeons, families and industry partners will come together to build the Family Fitness and Fun Park.
The Family Fitness and Fun Park includes an accessible playground, a walking and running track, Playworld Systems' ENERGI™ Total Body Fitness System, and LifeTrail Advanced Wellness System.
"Our partnership with KaBOOM! enables us to build an outstanding playground with the assistance of hundreds of volunteers, which helps to dramatically reduce the end cost to communities that so desperately need access to play," said Matt Miller, chief executive officer of Playworld Systems. "This is going to be another exciting year, and together with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and KaBOOM!, we look forward to bringing all the benefits of play to more people."
ENERGI: A fun, fresh-air fitness regimen for the entire community
ENERGI delivers a guided, fat-burning workout that exercises nearly all 600 of the body's muscles. Using the latest fitness technologies, ENERGI provides a gym-like, personal training experience for a variety of age groups, optimizing the number of people who will make use of this local community park. The self-contained fitness regimen allows park-goers to engage in exercise while connecting with nature. The ENERGI system also features Microsoft Tag technology. Utilizing a smartphone and the Tag Reader app, users scan the Tags to access video demos to ensure they exercise safely and with the proper form for maximum benefit.
LifeTrail: An outdoor workout for older, active adults
LifeTrail Advanced Wellness System, which is an expanded version of the original LifeTrail product launched in 2003. The new system is based on the functional fitness principles patterned after the movements of everyday life. Functional fitness can be a key component in helping users maintain independence and rehabilitate after an injury. Designed specifically to maintain and improve the health of people over 50 years old, the advanced outdoor workout system now includes 21 activity panels and 159 exercises.
Using real-life body positioning and movements, LifeTrail focuses on building the strength and energy required to accomplish routine activities. Tests conducted in the fall of 2009 in partnership with a senior housing community showed that LifeTrail helped to increase strength and dynamic balance among adults and seniors. Within a five-week period, the test group increased their upper body strength by 49 percent, lower body strength by 31 percent and their agility and dynamic balance by 14 percent.
Children and parents from the surrounding neighborhoods of La Mesa and Spring Valley contributed to the design of the 6,100 square-foot park. Additional funding for the park was provided in partnership with San Diego Youth Services, the Spring Valley Youth and Family Coalition and the La Mesa/Spring Valley School District.
About Playworld Systems, Inc.
Playworld Systems, a third-generation family-owned company headquartered in Lewisburg, Pa., has been a leader in imaginatively designed and customized commercial recreation and play equipment for 40 years. With the belief that The World Needs Play®, Playworld Systems creates equipment that brings the joy of play to people of every age through such innovative product lines as ENERGI™, LifeTrail® Advanced Wellness System, Playworld®, PlayDesigns®, NEOS®, and Origins™. Playworld Systems has invested significant resources to measurably reduce its carbon footprint, from eliminating PVCs to enhancing its waste management and recycling programs. In fact, Playworld Systems is the first major U.S. playground manufacturer to remove 99.999 percent of PVC from its products.
The company has received numerous awards throughout its 40 years, including two International Industrial Design Excellence Awards, a gold medal from International Design magazine, two News Directors' Choice Awards on Early Childhood, and the Pennsylvania Governors' Award for Safety Excellence. Along with these awards, Playworld Systems was a consultant to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board). For more information, visit PlayworldSystems.com.
About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Because all children deserve to be active and healthy, KaBOOM! works to ensure that every child in America has a great place to play within walking distance. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together businesses and communities to construct more than 1,900 new places to play across North America. KaBOOM! also fights the Play Deficit with online tools that empower communities to join the movement to save play. The KaBOOM! website, kaboom.org, allows communities to self-organize and take action to support play on a both a local and national level.
About the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
An orthopaedic surgeon is a physician with extensive training in the diagnosis and non-surgical as well as surgical treatment of the musculoskeletal system, including bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves.
With more than 36,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (www.aaos.org) or (www.orthoinfo.org) is the premier not-for-profit organization that provides education programs for orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals, champions the interests of patients and advances the highest quality musculoskeletal health. Orthopaedic surgeons and the Academy are the authoritative sources of information for patients and the general public on musculoskeletal conditions, treatments and related issues. An advocate for improved patient care, the Academy is participating in the Bone and Joint Decade (www.usbjd.org) -- the global initiative in the years 2002-2011 -- to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health, stimulate research and improve people's quality of life.