FUELLING the sports nutrition campaign for the 2016 Journey to Champs Tour, Grace Foods & Services Company, through its Grace Kitchens arm, has spent weeks educating students on the importance of proper nutrition towards their athletic success.

They have done on the ground work at the various developmental meets, week after week, where they had a dedicated booth featuring diet and weight- management counselling, and body mass index testing, among other areas.

“We believe that for athletes to succeed on and off the track they should ensure that they are exposed to a sound nutrition plan”, said Racquel Nevins, marketing manager at Grace Foods & Services Company.

Grace Kitchens sees this as an important part of its mandate as they seek to hone and develop young talents.

“We started at Jamaica College on February 4th with our sports nutritionist Kirk Bolton taking the young men through the paces of the foods to eat prior to, during, and after training. The athletes were encouraged to continue to chase their dreams with Grace in order for them to become the next Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Hansle Parchment, and Usain Bolt,” said Nevins.

Kirk kept it quite engaging and left important takeaways with the athletes, including brochures entitled “Feeding Future Champions”. The brochure contains pointers on dos and don’ts of staying in tip-top shape.

The athletes were quite knowledgeable about the different food groups, and they also knew about carbohydrate loading and the foods to eat that are rich in the various nutrients needed by the athletes. They were able to correctly identify a Grace product from each of the food groups and were not afraid to share the stage with Kirk, showing off their knowledge of nutrition.

The sessions were interactive and athletes won for themselves water bottles, draw string bags, as well as goodie bags.

Grace also shared exciting recipes with students and encouraged them to visit their website for other nutritious recipes. They were also encouraged to participate in the Chase Your Dreams promotions by texting in codes found under labels to win instant prizes, such as Champs tickets, phone credit and cash.

Some of the high schools included on the tour were Kingston College, Hydel, and Edwin Allen, along with others across the island.

The “Feeding Future Champions” brochure is available online at www.gracefoods.com/info-center/nutritional-brochure for athletes to get pertinent information leading up to Champs and beyond.