Pupils at Saintfield High School were treated to a bespoke nutrition session designed to help fuel their performance from Ulster Rugby Lead Nutritionist Stephanie Gleadhill as part of the Phoenix Energy and Ulster Rugby LineOut Programme.
Saintfield High School’s Year 11 & 12 Physical Education and Home Economics students were selected for the session and as well as the nutritional insights from Stephanie they also had the opportunity to quiz Ulster Rugby Senior Team professionals Luke Marshall and Kieran Treadwell on how they put nutritional advice into practice.
Speaking about the session, Jonathan Martindale, Director of Sales & Marketing at Phoenix Energy said: “We are delighted to partner with Ulster Rugby through the LineOut Programme to bring their expertise out to support and encourage young people to understand the importance of nutrition in fuelling their performance on and off the field.
“There are so many attributes in sport that are vital for individuals and communities to develop, such as teamwork, resilience and communication, and we see the Lineout Programme and range of initiatives within it as an engaging way to share these skills with people of all ages and backgrounds right across our licence area.”
Stephanie Gleadhill, Lead Nutritionist at Ulster Rugby who delivered the session said: “Nutrition is a vital element for any young person in reaching their potential physically and academically so it’s great to have the opportunity to help educate even more students on how they can eat well and improve their performance and recovery.
“For us at Ulster Rugby delivering sessions like this within the community enables us to engage with and support young people in communities right across the Province.”
Mark Elliott, Head of Physical Education at Saintfield High School said: “The session with Stephanie and the players was superb. Young people are exposed to so many myths around nutrition and food through social media so it was great to have Stephanie here to give practical and sensible advice to enable our students to make informed choices. Hearing Luke and Kieran share their experiences was eye opening for some of the students and really helped demonstrate Stephanie’s key points.”
“We would like to say a huge thanks to Ulster Rugby and Phoenix Energy for this fantastic opportunity.”
The Ulster Rugby and Phoenix Energy LineOut Programme continues to engage young people on nutrition, leadership and resilience with further presentations planned throughout 2020.
For further information on the programme or to request a session for your school contact gillian.orr@phoenixnaturalgas.com