On 12 September, Special Olympics East Asia, Special Olympics China and Nike celebrated the launch of a program to distribute sports equipment kits to 600 local schools in China. Each NikeGO kit contains apparel for athletes and coaches, five footballs, five basketballs, stop watches, cones, relay batons, measuring tape, banners, award ribbons, sports rules guides and instructional videos – enough materials to support ten Special Olympics athletes. The project plans to reach 6,000 new athletes in the coming year and will help Special Olympics China advance toward their 2005 goal of 500,000 athletes. The initial phase of the NikeGO initiative will distribute kits to 87 schools in 20 provinces, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Dalian and Shenzhen. The second phase will distribute kits to additional urban areas and surrounding villages.