SCHENECTADY — It’s not on the scale of Nike, but MVP Health Care is increasingly getting in the game of corporate sponsorship of athletes.

Two years after the MVP dropped its sponsorship of the New York Buzz tennis team at its annual competition in Schenectady, the health insurer is getting behind former Olympic soccer player and Rochester native Abby Wambach. The Schenectady-based MVP next week will sponsor a series of soccer clinics hosted by Wambach, including one on Friday for a crowd of 400 at Afrim Sports’ domed facility in Latham.

Wambach scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal game against Brazil during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. MVP last year hosted a similar but smaller series exclusively with Wambach, who started hosting similar clinics four years ago with the insurer’s Rochester subsidiary Preferred Care.

“This is a real concentrated effort to get behind our brand message,” which is to “Take on life and live well,” said MVP spokesman Gary Hughes.

MVP on July 15 announced this year’s clinics with Wambach, but a day later she broke her leg in an exhibition game against Brazil in San Diego, preventing her from joining the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team at the Olympic Games in Bejing.

The injured Wambach, who scored 14 goals during the Athens Olympic Games, will now host the clinics for children between the ages of 7 and 15. The first clinic will be held Thursday near New Paltz, followed by others over the weekend in Rochester and Syracuse.

The Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan in Albany picked up sponsorship of The Buzz after the Schenectady insurer dropped its support of the team, turning the MVP Tennis Stadium in Central Park into the CDPHP Tennis Complex. Hughes said it changed its sponsorship strategy to better promote active living.

In May, the Capital District Senior Softball League sponsored by MVP started playing games in Clifton Park. The league consists of 15 teams and over 200 players. The insurer last year debuted its first Medicare Advantage HMO plan for seniors called MVP Gold.

For the younger crowd, MVP is also planning to sponsor lacrosse clinics hosted by Gary Gait, the head coach of Syracuse University’s women’s lacrosse team.

Prior to last year’s Wambach clinic in Latham, Afrim Sports had never housed a sports camp hosted by a famous local athlete. That event, which drew a maximum capacity, has owner Afrim Nezaj considering running similar clinics during the winter.

“It would be nice to see more of that. It’s a good use of their money and it’s good publicity,” Nezaj said of MVP’s Wambach clinic.

Nezaj wants to organize soccer clinics with Major League Soccer players with local ties. They might include Chicago Fire goalie John Busch, who used to play for Guilderland High School, and Colorado Rapids goalie Bouna Coundoul, who played at the University at Albany.