(Editor’s note: ESPN Rise photos –  http://espnmediazone3.com/rs/?c=1782&k=6bc2d2c5bf)

New Orleans’ McMain High School & Saints’ Drew Brees Featured; Stan Verrett to Host

ESPN will televise an ESPN RISE-created, one-hour TV show, “RISE UP: New Orleans,” which features New Orleans-based Eleanor McMain Secondary School and members of the New Orleans Saints’ staff and players, including Drew Brees. Inspired by ESPN RISE’s mission to engage and elevate high school athletes through recognition, resources and information, RISE UP: New Orleans was produced by ESPN Content Development; the show is hosted by SportsCenter’s Stan Verrett and will air next Tuesday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. ET, on ESPN.

RISE UP: New Orleans highlights the growing need for assistance provided to school athletic programs due to cutbacks. The show covers members of the New Orleans business community coming together to refurbish McMain Secondary School’s athletic facility, its student athletes working with Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints’ strength and conditioning Coach Dan Dalrymple to learn proper training methods and a special appearance from Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees.

With McMain and its students at the show’s center, local architectural firm St. Martin Brown & Associates leads the charge, bringing together the team of contractors and engineers, including Woodward Design+Build, who executed the McMain athletic facility refurbishing project.

The show features the refurbishing project from start to finish, from the gutting of the space to the reveal where the students are shown the new facility. Special donations to complete the project included weight room equipment provided by Nautilus® commercial fitness equipment, Xenith provided helmets and concussion-prevention training, Nike’s gift of uniforms for all the school’s teams and other products from Sony, Best Buy, Promethean, Big Dog Warehouse and Custom Sports Surfacing.

A key component of the show is the focus on proper training for high school athletes. Members of McMain’s student athlete community are featured while visiting the Saints’ practice facility, watching practice, receiving instruction from Coach Dalrymple and Drew Brees, who is the co-chair of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, who spoke to them about the importance of proper training.

About ESPN RISE
ESPN RISE represents ESPN’s commitment to engage and elevate high school athletes by providing them with recognition, resources, information and inspiration that can motivate them to improve their skills and achieve their goals to be the best athletes they can.  ESPN RISE assets include ESPN RISE, GIRL, Hardwood and Gridiron magazines; ESPNRISE.com, and more than 160 high school events including Elite 11, Elite 24, ESPN RISE Games, ESPN RISE National High School Invitational, Faster to First, Area Code Baseball and Nike Combines/Nike SPARQ Mini Camps.  ESPN RISE is uniquely positioned to provide high school athletes and the company’s core fans with compelling high school sports content across all ESPN platforms.

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