The snow is melting, the temperature is rising, and Vicksburg’s softball team has started the spring season as celebrities – chocolate milk mustache celebrities. The team has been named one of United Dairy Industry of Michigan’s (UDIM) Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink grant recipients, which emphasizes good nutrition.
This spring, 88 Michigan high school sports teams were awarded funds to purchase and provide low-fat or fat-free chocolate milk to help their student athletes get the nutrition they need after practices, games and competitions. The grant amounts to $2,200 to purchase chocolate milk. It will buy 15 bottles a day, five days a week for 11 weeks of the 2018 season for the softball team. Vicksburg’s Athletic Director Mike Roy applied for the grant.
To build awareness around the importance of good nutrition, the Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink kit includes promotional items and educational materials. The players had fun posing for the picture, pasting the chocolate mustache stickers over their lips and holding up the milk bottles.
“According to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, Americans of all activity levels over the age of eight should include three servings of low-fat or fat-free milk or milk products in their diet every day. Chocolate milk is a nutritious option to help meet these recommendations,” says Melissa Gerharter, registered dietitian, UDIM. “And what’s really great about chocolate milk is that it packs a powerful nutrient punch, it’s affordable, and it tastes great.”
“Since the grant began in 2011, we’ve awarded over 800 grants to high school sports teams across Michigan,” states Gerharter. “We’re happy to see the impacts that it has had on the overall nutrition of many student athletes already, and we can only hope that it will continue to gain momentum.”