October 28, 2014
San Diego, CA – October 28, 2014 – Helping to draw attention to the importance of financial education, today San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick played Financial Football with San Diego high school students. Financial Football is a free, football-themed educational video game and classroom curriculum developed by Visa Inc. Joining Hardwick at today's event, expanding the game in San Diego, was State Board of Equalization member Betty T. Yee, City Councilmember David Alvarez and Navy Federal Credit Union Regional Manager, Carrie Hill.
Chargers center, Nick Hardwick rolled up his sleeves to lead students at Southwest High School in a high-energy game of Financial Football. Earlier Hardwick shared his personal experiences on the importance of responsible money management with students. Also on hand to lend support and to play the game were State Board of Equalization member Betty T. Yee, City Councilmember David Alvarez and Carrie Hill, Regional Manager for Navy Federal Credit Union, all long-time supporters of enhancing financial literacy in California.
"Financial literacy may sound boring but understanding finances will help students to achieve their goals in life," said Betty T. Yee, First District Member, California State Board of Equalization. "Learning how to manage money will lead to smarter decisions in their personal finances. Everything from saving for college, to starting a family in their first house, financial literacy is a key life skill and Financial Football can help students obtain it."
"Managing one's money is a lot more complex than just balancing a checkbook. It is important to teach students about the significance of their personal finances," David Alvarez, San Diego City Councilmember said. "I thank Visa for creating this program - another tool for students to use."
"Navy Federal Credit Union is a strong believer in promoting financial education and helping teenagers understand the importance of making good financial decisions," said Carrie Hill, Regional Manager for Navy Federal Credit Union. "By learning concepts from a program like Financial Football such budgeting, saving, and even how investments and credit work, students can develop financial management skills that will last a lifetime. Navy Federal Credit Union is proud to work with Visa, Board Member Yee and Councilmember Alvarez to support this program."
The centerpiece of a nationwide educational initiative, Financial Football helps students and adults tackle their financial futures. The game is accompanied by a classroom curriculum.
"Kids need to learn to make smart money management decisions early in life," said San Diego Chargers Center Nick Hardwick. "It takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers and mentors within the community to give teenagers a strong background in personal finance."
Available online at www.practicalmoneyskills.com/football, Financial Football puts students' fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of football with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a free Android or iOS app.
"For over a decade, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy and we are proud to assist Treasurer Ellis in his continuing efforts to strengthen financial education," said Nat Sillin, Head of U.S. financial education, Visa Inc.
This event is part of a national educational campaign, now in its seventh season. Since 2006, Visa has reached agreements with forty-five states and the District of Columbia to distribute Financial Football to every high school and middle school in those states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) a free, award-winning financial education program that reaches millions of people around the world each year. Launched in 1995, the program is now available in ten languages in thirty countries. At Practical Money Skills for Life, educators, parents and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans and more. Visa also runs What's My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org), a leading higher education consumer awareness program.
About Visa
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks – VisaNet – that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa.html, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.
