Embassy Suites Hotels supports junior Olympians

Embassy Suites Hotels – the leading upscale, all-suite hotel brand — kicked off its sponsorship of the U.S. Junior Olympics Skills Competition, a United States Olympic Committee (USOC) program, by helping Junior Olympians in Sacramento gear up for the day's competition.

In July, nearly 200 Junior U.S. Olympians participating in basketball, soccer, tennis and track & field at the U.S Junior Olympics Regional Skills Competition in Sacramento, Calif., enjoyed a breakfast warm-up hosted by the all suite hotel brand.

"Embassy Suites is proud to help sponsor the U.S. Junior Olympic Skills Competition and the nearly 2 million boys and girls who compete in their quest to sharpen their sports skills and become Olympic athletes," said John Lee, vice president of brand marketing and communications for Embassy Suites Hotels. "As a leading hotel brand for families and kids, we feel it is imperative to give back to an audience that has been an important audience for us for the last 23 years. What better way to do that than to partner with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Skills Competition."

The U.S. Junior Olympic Skills competition program is a grassroots program established to provide youth across the United States with a multi-sport competition designed to encourage participation in Olympic sport, emphasize fair and friendly play, and promote an active lifestyle. Athletes ages 8-13 begin by competing in one of 6,300 local qualifying events. Winners qualify for regional competitions, such as the Sacramento event, and top competitors advance to the National Finals at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., Aug. 9-12.

As the official track & field competition sponsor for the U.S. Junior Olympic Skills Competition, Embassy Suites is helping to prepare boys and girls ages 8-13 to become future U.S. Olympians. The track & field competition consists of the 50-meter sprint and the standing long jump. Participants compete in both events to receive the highest cumulative point score. The competition aims to introduce America's youth to the excitement, benefits and healthy lifestyle that sport participation offers. During this year alone, more than 1.7 million boys and girls have competed in nearly 6,500 skills competitions across the country.

The brand's sponsorship will continue when 72 Junior Olympian qualifiers from across the United States travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to compete in the National Finals. The finalists will be staying at the newly renovated Embassy Suites Colorado Springs, located at 7290 Commerce Center Drive, where they will be treated to a nutritious complimentary breakfast each morning and a special manager's reception in their honor each evening.

The Embassy Suites brand's sponsorship of the U.S. Junior Olympics Skills Competition is an extension of the Hilton Family of Hotels' U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team sponsorship. The Hilton Family of Hotels – which includes Hilton, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Hampton Hotels and the Waldorf=Astoria Collection – maintains a longstanding relationship with the USOC, and in January 2005, announced a Family-wide sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American Teams that extends through the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.

About Embassy Suites Hotels:
Embassy Suites Hotels is a member of the Hilton Family of Hotels and opened its first hotel in 1984. It was the first all-suite upscale hotel brand to enter the industry and today has nearly 190 hotels.

Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT) is the leading global hospitality company, with more than 2,900 hotels and 500,000 rooms in 78 countries and territories, including 150,000 team members worldwide.

The company owns, manages or franchises a hotel portfolio of some of the best known and highly regarded brands, including Hilton, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection.