CHARLOTTE - The Carolina Panthers, Lowe's and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation unveiled a state of the art Play 60 playground in Reedy Creek Park during a special event on Monday night.
The event featured Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin and children from the local Boys & Girls Club who broke the official ribbon in the playground's 40-yard dash.
The playground features an obstacle course that incorporates elements of an NFL Combine workout and the popular Ninja Warrior activities. It also features a 40-yard dash track with automated timing.
"Today was a great event for us and our partner Lowe's in celebrating 10 years of NFL Play 60 by unveiling this tremendous playground," Panthers director of community relations Riley Fields said. "However, most importantly, today is about providing a venue for kids and showing them that being active and using their body is a joy and not a chore. We hope that this space can help create healthy lifelong habits."
The playground's opening marks the third large-scale Play 60 park of its kind in Charlotte. The Carolina Panthers pioneered the Play 60 Challenge course concept in 2012 at Charlotte's Freedom Park in an effort to create a next generation playground for kids who have aged out of traditional playgrounds and was designed around the premise of "NFL Combine meets America Ninja Warrior." Since then, other NFL teams have emulated the concept.
The park's opening celebrates the 10th anniversary of the NFL's Play 60 initiative, a national youth health and fitness campaign focused on increasing the wellness of young fans by encouraging them to be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
