Happy Thanksgiving!

As we near the end of November, TEAM Coalition hopes that everyone has had a prosperous fall and would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We have been busy once again at TEAM Coalition this month and are eager to share with you all that we have done.

TEAM at MLS Cup

For the fifth straight year TEAM Coalition traveled once again to MLS CUP, this time in Seattle, WA. As the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake were getting ready to face off in the championship game, two lucky fans were also on their way to Seattle to cheer them on.

Designated Driver for the Season from the Los Angeles Galaxy Mona Stewart and Designated Driver for the Season from Real Salt Lake Kyle Stockley were the grand prize winners of our Responsibility Has Its Rewards sweepstakes with Major League Soccer. TEAM also took part in Soccer Celebration, the interactive fanfest outside of Qwest Field prior to the game. Fans pledged to be responsible soccer fans and in return, received a souvenir photo commemorating the event.

In what was one of the most memorable games in recent cup history, Real Salt Lake outlasted the LA Galaxy in a shootout to claim their first ever MLS Cup. Thank you to Major League Soccer and all MLS fans that pledged to be designated drivers this season!

RHIR with the Jacksonville Jaguars

TEAM traveled south to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Florida on November 22 to film fan PSAs at the Jaguars’ Sunday afternoon game against the Buffalo Bills. TEAM was met by a large number of eager fans who shared the important message of responsibility in front of the camera. Off screen, many fans also pledged to get friends and family home safely when they registered as designated drivers. Thank you to all fans who participated with enthusiasm on screen and also to those who pledged responsibility by becoming designated drivers for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

RHIR with the Denver Nuggets

TEAM traveled to Denver on November 24 to film fan PSAs at the Nuggets game against the New Jersey Nets at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. Eager fans shared the important message of responsibility in front of the camera while pledging to be designated drivers and ensure that their friends and family got home safely from the game. Troopers from the Colorado State Patrol were a great asset helping encourage fans to participate. Thank you to Troopers John Hahn and Ryan Sullivan as well as Bear Kay from the Colorado State Patrol. Gene Giron from MillerCoors was also at the fan filming to help communicate the responsibility message - "You Hold the Key - Never Drive Drunk."

RHIR with the Colorado Avalanche

On Wednesday, November 25, TEAM returned to the Pepsi Center, this time to film Avalanche fans for a designated driver PSA. Bernie, the Avs mascot, joined in the fun along with Colorado State Troopers (Ryan Sullivan was joined by David Hall) and a representative from the Colorado Department of Transportation. The back-to-back nights of filming for the NBA and NHL teams in Denver makes Denver the first city to have all five professional sports teams produce PSAs with fans to support the designated-driver programs available to fans at all sports venues in the Denver-area. Great work everyone! And thank you for your continued support to encourage responsible fan behavior and prevent drunk driving!

TEAM at IAAM ICMC

For the fifth consecutive year, TEAM Coalition played an active role in the IAAM International Crowd Management Conference (ICMC). This year's conference was held in Charlotte, NC in early November. TEAM Coalition co-sponsored the closing reception at Dale Earnhardt Inc. along with Argus and In-Stadium Solutions.

TEAM also offered a very unique opportunity for conference attendees. At no additional cost, attendees could become certified TEAM trainers. Eleven individuals took advantage of this cost-saving opportunity. Thank you to TEAM Master Trainer Dane Dodd from Contemporary Service Corporation for conducting the workshop. TEAM looks forward to offering similar value-added trainer certification for future ICMCs.

MLB Training Awards

This month, TEAM Coalition is happy to recognize trainers for their commitment to responsible alcohol management. Individual trainers are recognized for the total number of employees they certify in the TEAM program. Thank you again to all of our trainers, who are extremely important to us.

On November 17th at the 2009 MLB stadium operations meetings, TEAM also presented training certification and designated-driver program awards to individual MLB Clubs. Prestigious Achievement Awards were presented to clubs that had at least 90% of their employee roster certified in TEAM training. Designated Driver Awards were presented to the top five MLB Clubs with the most fans who pledged to be designated drivers.

This season, MLB set a new league-wide record with 365,000 designated drivers! The top five Clubs were:

• St. Louis Cardinals: 49,637 designated drivers
• Milwaukee Brewers: 43,554 designated drivers
• Houston Astros: 29,299 designated drivers
• Detroit Tigers: 22,625 designated drivers
• Kansas City Royals: 16,727 designated drivers

TEAM at the HBCU Classics

TEAM, joining together with MillerCoors, traveled to Birmingham, AL at the end of October for the third in a series of four HBCU Classics at which TEAM offers fans the opportunity to pledge responsibility as football fans.

• Southern Heritage Classic (Memphis, TN)
• Atlanta Bank of America Classic (Atlanta, GA)
• Magic City Classic (Birmingham, AL)
• Bayou Classic (New Orleans, LA)

At the Magic City Classic, TEAM was met by a large number of fans who, by pledging to be responsible football fans, promise to never drive drunk and to always have a designated driver. Thank you to all fans who , by participating, are protecting themselves and fellow football fans. TEAM will also be in New Orleans, LA this weekend for the 36th annual Bayou Classic!

Upcoming IDPs

Would you like TEAM to come to your facility and conduct a TEAM Instructor Development Program (IDP) workshop? If you host a TEAM IDP at your facility, you receive two free registrations! Please send us an e-mail if you are interested in hosting an IDP.

2009 continues to be one of TEAM’s busiest years for IDP workshops. So far this year we have conducted 16 IDP workshops at sports and entertainment facilities across the country. Nearly 220 new trainers became certified and over 100 trainers recertified to date.

TEAM is busy scheduling new IDPs across the country. Here is the schedule of upcoming workshops for the fall and winter months:

To register for an upcoming IDP, click here.

Upcoming Events

TEAM recently exhibited at the 2009 Lifesavers Conference in Nashville which is a national highway safety meeting dedicated to reducing the tragic toll of deaths and injuries on our nation's roadways. Below is a list of upcoming opportunities for state highway safety offices to partner with TEAM: