LaMichael James Brings Tools for Success to His Alma-Mater High School

Texarkana's top pro football prospect returns to share life lessons, SKLZ products.

2012-03-27

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 27, 2012 (Press-News.org) Yesterday, pro football prospect LaMichael James surprised students at Liberty-Eylau High School, his alma mater in Texarkana, Texas, with tools for achieving their best on the field and in life. James and representatives from SKLZ, the athletic training company for which he is a brand ambassador, shared how hard work and dedication can lead to academic and athletic successes. In addition to the words of encouragement, James donated $5,000 of SKLZ training equipment to the Liberty-Eylau High School to help its student athletes elevate their athleticism.

"When you're a kid from a small town, it can be hard to imagine greatness in your future," said James. "But being from a small town doesn't make you small, you just might have to work harder to get what you want. I want these kids to know that if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams regardless of the things that might seem to be in your way."

As a student at Liberty-Eylau, James experienced firsthand how a lack of community resources can impact the support high school kids need to get ahead. Determined to overcome the odds, James trained hard to earn a spot on the University of Oregon football team, where he became the school's career-rushing leader and set another record for a season-high 1,805 rushing yards in 2011. He's currently slated as a top pro football pick for the draft next month.

Last month, James announced that he joined the SKLZ team as a brand ambassador to help athletes gain an understanding about the company's training products and how to use them, as well as evangelize the SKLZ brand.

"True athletes, the ones who make it to the highest levels, learn to overcome the toughest obstacles," says John Sarkisian, CEO at SKLZ. "LaMichael's commitment to training and his mental toughness have helped him to beat the odds. It's that work ethic that makes him an ideal ambassador for our brand and a true role model for these kids."

More than 200 students gathered for the 40-minute afterschool assembly, which included a sneak peak at a SKLZ documentary series called LaMichael James: Road to the Pros. James also gifted to the school $5,000 worth of SKLZ training equipment to give athletes an opportunity to excel in their sports. The training equipment includes ladders, hurdles, speed chutes, weighted vests, medicine balls and more. This appearance came after a similar stop earlier in the month at Willamette High School in near the University of Oregon.

Fans of James can get exclusive access to his journey as he transitions from college football to professional football on www.lamichael.com.

About SKLZ
SKLZ is committed to elevating the athlete in each of us by guiding and serving athletes on their journeys to be their personal best. As the flagship brand of Pro Performance Sports, SKLZ develops innovative athletic performance and skill development training products, technology and knowledge for serious athletes of all ages, skill levels and sports. Based in San Diego, California, SKLZ delivers durable, high-performance trainers that can be found around the world at major sporting goods retailers, specialty shops, and mass merchants, as well as on the SKLZ web site at www.sklz.com.

For more information on SKLZ, please contact Nicole Roberts at Nicole.Roberts@sklz.com.

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

LaMichael James Brings Tools for Success to His Alma-Mater High School 2

LaMichael James Brings Tools for Success to His Alma-Mater High School 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Poor colonoscopy prep hides pre-cancerous polyps

2012-03-27

What happens on the day before a colonoscopy may be just as important as the colon-screening test itself. Gastroenterologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that when patients don't adequately prep for the test by cleansing their colons, doctors often can't see potentially dangerous pre-cancerous lesions. Reporting in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the researchers say that doctors often missed at least one pre-cancerous growth in about one-third of patients who did not properly prepare for their colonoscopy. Those polyps ...

Research into children with autism published in JoVE

2012-03-27

Though the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been steadily climbing— from 6 in 1,000 children in 2002, to nearly 10 in 1,000 children in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention— little is known about the disorder. But, research with young kids can lead to important insights in how children with developmental abnormalities view the world. This month in the Journal of Visualized Experiments, researchers demonstrate how to use eye-tracking in very young children with autism. "Generally, individuals new to this method often struggle, ...

Harvard’s Wyss Institute creates living human gut-on-a-chip

2012-03-27

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have created a gut-on-a-chip microdevice lined by living human cells that mimics the structure, physiology, and mechanics of the human intestine—even supporting the growth of living microbes within its luminal space. As a more accurate alternative to conventional cell culture and animal models, the microdevice could help researchers gain new insights into intestinal disorders, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and also evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential ...

Sandia National Laboratories' Ion Beam Laboratory looks at advanced materials for reactors

2012-03-27

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M — Sandia National Laboratories is using its Ion Beam Laboratory (IBL) to study how to rapidly evaluate the tougher advanced materials needed to build the next generation of nuclear reactors and extend the lives of current reactors. Reactor operators need advanced cladding materials, which are the alloys that create the outer layer of nuclear fuel rods to keep them separate from the cooling fluid. Better alloys will be less likely to deteriorate from exposure to everything from coolant fluids to radiation damage. Operating a reactor causes progressive ...

Boston University researchers develop microfluidic chip to stem flu outbreaks

2012-03-27

BOSTON -- The H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009 underscored weaknesses in methods widely used to diagnose the flu, from frequent false negatives to long wait times for results. Now Boston University researchers have developed a prototype of a rapid, low-cost, accurate, point-of-care device that promises to provide clinicians with an effective tool to quickly diagnose both seasonal and pandemic strains of influenza, and thus limit the spread of infection. Boston University Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Catherine Klapperich led the team of engineering and medical researchers ...

Researchers discover a new path for light through metal

2012-03-27

WASHINGTON -- Helping bridge the gap between photonics and electronics, researchers from Purdue University have coaxed a thin film of titanium nitride into transporting plasmons, tiny electron excitations coupled to light that can direct and manipulate optical signals on the nanoscale. Titanium nitride's addition to the short list of surface-plasmon-supporting materials, formerly comprised only of metals, could point the way to a new class of optoelectronic devices with unprecedented speed and efficiency. "We have found that titanium nitride is a promising candidate ...

WTFast.com Destroys Lag and Gives First-Person Shooter Gamers a Competitive Advantage From Anywhere Around the World

2012-03-27

Using unique proprietary technology, WTFast accelerates the online connection between gamers and servers, dramatically increasing performance for the world's most popular franchises. WTFast users can see drastic improvements in performance boosting game connection speeds by as much as 70 per cent. This is vital for gamers who live remotely from the host game servers. "Our service gives its users a huge advantage in multiplayer FPS games regardless of where you are in the world," said Rob Bartlett, CEO of WTFast. "In some cases we've seen ping rates drop ...

When we test, do we stress?

2012-03-27

Your mother had a doctor's appointment for a memory test. The results are conclusive: she presents with the first signs of Alzheimer type dementia. Now, to get to her appointment, your mother, who is no longer used to driving in town, took her car, looked for a parking space for 15 minutes, got lost in a labyrinth of one-way streets, had never used those new electronic parking meters before and is convinced that the "machine" stole her credit card number. Out of breath, she walked 20 minutes looking for the doctor's office and finally arrived late for her appointment, even ...

Nicaragua Sets New Record in FDI Attraction

2012-03-27

The Government of Nicaragua recently revealed that the country received US$967.9 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) during 2011, a new record for the country in FDI inflows and a 91 percent growth when compared to the US$507.9 million attracted in 2010. The FDI attracted in 2011 was led mainly by the energy, telecommunications and free zones sectors, which together accounted for 52 percent of total FDI. The development of these sectors has contributed significantly in increasing the country's productive capacity and boosting its economy. Specifically, in the ...

University of Maryland completes most extensive full face transplant to date

2012-03-27

Baltimore, MD -- The University of Maryland released details today of the most extensive full face transplant completed to date, including both jaws, teeth, and tongue. The 36-hour operation occurred on March 19-20, 2012 at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center and involved a multi-disciplinary team of faculty physicians from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a team of over 150 nurses and professional staff. The face transplant, formally called a vascularized composite allograft (VCA), was part of a 72-hour ...

LaMichael James Brings Tools for Success to His Alma-Mater High School

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: