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New GSA USA/eBay Donation Offered

You can now donate either all or a portion of your profits to GSA USA whenever you sell items on eBay.com. When you are ready to sell simply visit this link and click on the “Sell” tab to get started. For more instructions on how to donate to nonprofit organizations, visit this link. We greatly appreciate your help in funding GSA USA’s sustainable initiatives.

→ GSA USA's eBay page

GSA USA Now On Facebook – Visit Our Page
Join our Facebook page. We are listed as Global Sports Alliance USA. We have a lot of information about our cause on Facebook, are gaining new members daily, and have some exciting discussion group topics that you can reply to. We will keep you updated on current news, sports events (you may notify us so we can post your event as well) and tips on how to recycle and reuse while participating in or watching your favorite sports.

You can also go on and join one of our discussion groups and access pictures of some of the events.

→ GSA USA Facebook page
→ Link to our Facebook cause

ARIZONA Upcoming Sports Events

2009 El Tour De Tucson–
Please Register with GSA USA
The Global Sports Alliance USA will be one of the charitable agencies benefiting from the University Medical Center’s 27th El Tour de Tucson presented by Diamond Ventures to be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009. Preparations are on the way for this cycling event which attracts more than 9,000 cyclists from around the US and the world.

Please show your support for sports and the environment by registering to ride for the Global Sports Alliance USA. To benefit Global Sports Alliance USA riders must register using our application form. El Tour registration forms are available on our website. Complete the form and fax to 520.903.2000 or scan and email to connie@gsa-usa.org or dina@gsa-usa.org. You may also mail the application to Global Sports Alliance USA at 3481 East Michigan Street, Tucson, AZ 85714 to the attention of Connie Swenson.

Lemond Fitness Indoor El Tour De Tucson
Global Sports Alliance USA is also planning to take part in the Indoor El Tour de Tucson on Saturday, November 14, 2009. This will be a terrific opportunity for riders that want to be part of El Tour but have a limited amount of time to ride or feel more comfortable riding on a stationary bike. More information will be coming soon as well as registration forms on our website. The Global Sports Alliance USA benefits from this ride as well, so please register directly with us on our website.

The form will be available by July 1, 2009.

Tucson Toros Earth Day
Plans are in the works for Hi Corbett to host an Earth Day-type celebration in August where any group who wants to show support for the environment can set up a table. Eric May, Director of Toros Stadium Operations is trying to get as many sponsors as possible to participate in this Earth Day event. You may call him at 520.325.1010.

Tucson Toros 4th Of July Game And Fireworks Extravaganza At Hi Corbett
Date: Saturday July 04, 2009
Time: 7:00 PM

Celebrate the 4th of July with the Toros and a post game Fireworks Extravaganza. Call the Toros ticket office for details.

GSA USA President Jane Poynter on www.ted.com
Jane Poynter, President of Global Sports Alliance USA, will be featured on www.ted.com with her 18 minute talk on the Global Biospherians and the Environment. The site will also carry her interview with them.

Please check it out starting June 12, 2009.

→ Jane on www.ted.com

GSA Is Offering You A Fantastic Holiday Season Gift For Your Friends, Co-Workers And Employees Of A Brand New Book To Be Released This Fall
Jane Poynter, President of Global Sports Alliance USA, is writing a book entitled Champions for Change, Athletes Making a World of Difference, to be released late fall. Global Sports Alliance USA is offering pre-sale orders. The full cost of the book is $24.95 plus shipping. We are offering discounts on multiple orders. Please visit our special page devoted to details of the book and discount offers.

New Partnership

The Tucson Toros baseball team played their inaugural game at Hi Corbett field on May 26, 2009, against the Chico Outlaws.
The Tucson Toros are part of the independent Golden Baseball League. It's a homecoming for the Toros who were a beloved team who played in Tucson from 1969 through 1997, but this time they are coming into Tucson as a “green” team led by the Tucson Toros Director of Stadium Operations Eric May.

The Tucson Toros join in partnership with GSA USA and will fly the ecoflag to exhibit their awareness of the environment and to help educate themselves and fans alike to respect the environment.

Eric May has a fabulous background of promoting recycling and reusing and you can read all about Eric and his efforts in the article written by Mae Lee Sun, Inside Tucson Business.

Ecoplayer of the Month

Charles Rouse, our ecoplayer of the month, raced motocross for 33 years starting as a novice in 1970, becoming expert, then professional and finally at 40 years a Master and ending in 2004. His manager was not too happy when he showed up with broken bones, but he never missed a day's work because of motocross. In 1978 he started restoring Indian motorcycles and has completed several of them. Motorcycles and the sport have been a big part of his life. Pictures are of the last two Indians restored, (the yellow one is a 1952 Chief and the red one is a 1942 four cylinder) and of Charles Rouse standing next to his motorcycle. The only big event he gets involved in each year is the Laughlin River Run and then only to observe. He also rides with a friend, (a manager he worked with at IKON), and they attend the Laughlin River Run, plus an Arizona ride each year. He also particates in local motorcycle runs. Chuck says “In fact I ride at least three days a week now that retirement lets me. But, no more motocross—I want to, but better sense keeps me from it. My life is now consumed with restoring Indian motorcycles, guitars, and other musical instruments to be reused”. You can visit my website for more information on my recycling and reusing projects.

Visit his website. GSA USA thanks you tremendously, Chuck, for being a great inspiration and example of how to lead a sustainable lifestyle while also pursuing the sports you love.

What We Did in May 2009

NEW YORK
On May 9, 2009, GSA USA New York participated in the North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain, New York. GSA USA partnered with the North Face to manage the event’s recycling efforts with GSA USA volunteers diverting aluminum, plastic, glass, paper and cardboard from the waste stream. The Endurance Challenge featured trail runs of 10K, half-marathon, 50K and 50 miles through the difficult terrain and magnificent scenery of Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks. GSA USA commends The North Face for their efforts to minimize the environmental impact of this 1000 runner event and their “Journey Towards Sustainability” commitment. GSA USA especially appreciates its dedicated volunteers.

Sports Eco-Tips

The Local Trust is a project of Global Sports Alliance USA with the support of the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee and a host of other local and international organizations. As GSA USA helps athletes, sports fans and lovers of the outdoors work together to conserve our planet’s resources, the Local Trust adds by neutralizing credits to offset your travel. These are regeneration credits that go beyond your footprint, so you don’t just keep a zero balance – you help rebuild a healthy world. Buy carbon credits through the Local Trust and 100% of your money stays close to home. It supports your local economy, creates green jobs and builds treescapes you can see and use yourself.

Visit www.thelocaltrust.org or call 520-271-8686 to buy carbon credits and learn more about the Local Trust.

GSA-USA OFFERING SPECIAL ON ECO CYCLIST JERSEYS
Through the end of June we are offering a springtime 20% discount on our Global Sports Alliance USA Eco cyclist jerseys.

Purchasing one of these will allow you to stand out in your group as being aware of the environment around you. Sale price is $48.00, regular price is $60.00. The jersey has three back pockets and we have Small, Large, X-Large, and XX-Large.

To purchase at the sale price mail your check to 3481 East Michigan Street, Tucson, AZ., 85714, or use PayPal.

Rich Darling (top) and Ron Weidner (bottom), sport the ecojerseys that are comfortable and eye-catching.

Spotlights

New Intern On Staff At GSA USA
Brittany Hultstrom, our new intern, is a junior at the University of Arizona majoring in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. This past year Brittany was involved as a Phase II member of the Arizona Blue Chip Program Marketing Team, Marketing Officer for the Residence Life Eco-Reps, and a member of Students Organized for Animal Rights all at the UofA. This summer she is also doing a marketing internship for GoldenWest Management and volunteering for the Humane Society of Tucson.

Welcome to GSA USA New Team Captains

University of Arizona Students Emily Astiz and Camila Guzman of Smiles 4 Miles help keep our bicycling paths clean as they ride known as Smiles 4 Miles. Both will be juniors, Guzman, a California native, majoring in Environmental Sciences and Astiz, from Tucson, AZ majoring in Physiology. Together they rediscovered the childhood thrill of bicycling and noticed litter on many of the Tucson bicycling paths so have started using trash bags made out of recycled materials and venture through neighborhood streets and parks to clean and recycle.

Outdoors, sports and youth came together to mold Chris Valdez into the kind of team captain we were looking for. Chris is the founder and principle youth mentor for The Youth Corps of America, influencing and training our most vulnerable kids who live in the tough neighborhoods of Tucson. He has earned a 7th degree belt in Kajukenbo, been a professional boxer, is a boxing coach, owns and operates the Old School Gym and is supportive of the kids with outdoor activities and physical fitness.

Dan Schied, a new Team Captain from Rochester, New York, has a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from SUNY Alfred. Dan is certified in NYSDEC commercial applicators and NYSNLACNLP, mauget tree injection. He is a regular presenter at NYS and National Conferences in the area of grounds care, sports turf care and snow removal. He is currently the NYSNLA Arbor Day chair and has been on the Committee for the Gardenscape Flower and Garden Show for 18 years. He has received Green Star Awards for River Campus and Towers Baseball Field, both in 2008, from the University of Rochester.

Kimberly Truitt is a native Tucsonan and a senior at the University of Arizona majoring in Art History/Women's Studies, and is a member of UA cycling, and Tri-Iota Women's Studies Honorary. Kimberly says she has been an athlete since birth having participated in swimming, soccer, softball as a child and cross country/track, soccer in high school. Her father is the track coach at Tucson Canyon Del Oro High School. Her parents instilled environmental saavy in suburbs without doctrine, ie composting, gardening, water irrigation/harvesting, planting and maintaining native foliage in living area. She is quoted “My experiences in sport, and subsequent travels, have proven that sport can be the medium/vessel for dialogue, camaraderie and collective understanding. If we can further encourage the bond between environmental activism, respect, cultural/environmental dialogue and fun, we move closer to a more holistic and sustainable society!”

Come Join Us as a Team Captain

TEAM CAPTAINS work with ecoplayer teams in cities around the United States of America to inspire local sports facilities, events, clubs, and other non-profits and schools to promote environmental awareness and action through sport. Please contact Dina@gsa-usa.org if you would like to become a Team Captain in your local area.

Some of the exciting projects the Team Captain and their ecoplayer teams may assist with your community are protecting and rebuilding nature, promoting reduction and reuse of products, saving energy and resources, and hopefully involve families and neighborhoods to plant gardens, start donation drives or clean up a section of the community. Global Sports Alliance USA is looking to register Team Captains in your community and in your specific sport. Please contact the Green Sporting Events Director, Dina Delaney at dina@gsa-usa.org for more information on what it means to be a Team Captain and how you can contribute to environmental awareness in your sports community.