Sustagen® Sports Trainer of the Year - Meet the Winners.

Our October and 2009 Winner is Taryn Cummane!

October Winner - Taryn Cummane

Taryn works with the reserves and seniors at the Chirnside Park Football Club who competes in the Eastern Football League.
Using the knowledge gained through completing the SMA Sports Trainers and First Aid courses, Taryn has been able to educate the players with advice throughout the season.
 
After a number of players commented on cramping and the lack of energy they had early in games, Taryn did further research and put together a small booklet to inform players of the importance of hydration and nutrition. Containing a number of tips and advice the booklet highlighted the types and amount of fluid and food to consume in the lead up, during and after games.
 
As a result many of the players noticed a difference in their performance and at the end of the year they achieved the ultimate goal of a Senior Premiership!
 
Congratulations Taryn - you are the October and also the overall major prize winner!
 
As part of her prize Taryn will receive a trip to attend the SMA conference in 2010, Sustagen sponsored club nutrition night at Chirnside Park and up to $2,000 worth of Sustagen Sport products.

September Winner - Leah Gordon

Leah is an SMA accredited Sports Trainer with the Kaniva/Leeor United Football Club in Victoria's west.

With her husband coaching the junior colts at the club, Leah along with another mother decided that a great way to get involved and help out would be to do the SMA Sports Trainers Course.

Leah's key message that she communicates to the players is that what they put into their body ultimately has a major impact on how well they will perform. With this in mind, a team rule was created that soft drink was to be banned from Thursday night until after the game on Saturday. Leah also encouraged all the players to drink more water as they were experiencing high levels of cramping.

The kids were amazed that there cramping stopped and the parents were amazed that there kids were actually listening to someone telling them to eat and hydrate correctly!

"Once you start educating the kids about nutrition and they start to see results on and off the field it is like a new craze, they all want to do it" explained Leah.

Congratulations Leah! You have won $500 worth of Sustagen products and are now in the running to become the Sustagen Sport - Sports Trainer of the Year!

August Winner - Sonia Nicholls

Sonia is a SMA accredited Sports Trainer with the Mount Compass Football Club in South Australia.
 
She spends her time educating all the Mount Compass players on the benefits of eating well and keeping up their fluid intake to improve their performances both on and off the field.
 
Through encouraging different eating and drinking habits, Sonia says the players have seen for themselves the difference that nutrition and hydration makes to them and how much more they can achieve.
 
One major improvement Sonia has noticed is the reduction in injury time from cramping and strains along with the improvement in their recovery, which not only makes them enjoy their football more - but gives Sonia more time to watch the game rather than attending to injuries!

July Winner - Kaylene Pridham

Kaylene has been a trainer at the Uraidla Districts Football Club in South Australia for seven seasons since her son began playing in the under 17 competition.
 
Having spent five years living and playing sport in the extreme Alice Springs weather conditions, Kaylene knows better than most the importance of proper hydration and the negative effects dehydration has on sporting performance.
 
This first hand knowledge combined with all that she has learnt through her SMA memberships has allowed her to educate the players around the importance of correct hydration and nutrition.
 
Her strategy is to educate the younger teams as soon as she can so that they come through the ranks already practicing the correct hydration and nutrition practices.

June Winner - Steve Pearce

Steve is the trainer of the under 15's at the Heathmont Jets Junior Football Club where he quickly noticed that most of the boys did not understand the value of hydration and correct food intake before and after training and games.
 
Realising this, Steve arranged for a presentation titled 'Project Whiteline' to educate the team around the importance of nutrition and hydration. Since seeing the presentation, the boys have begun to understand the idea that they can get more out of themselves with the right hydration and correct food intake.
 
As a result Steve said that the performance of the team has improved, mainly due to increased concentration levels and more positive attitudes. With the players bringing their own drink bottles to training and games, the drink bottle holders have gone from near empty to overflowing!