The Star rugby club will be making the healthy choice the easy choice for junior players at their club day on Saturday (June 18).

Star assistant secretary Paul Espin said the idea to provide better food and drink options for junior players had been raised by parent and Healthy Families Invercargill chairman Brendon McDermott.

“He just asked the question of why are we handing out sugary drinks to the kids after they’ve been playing 80 minutes of rugby,” Espin said.

Rather than giving away fizzy drink to the players, the club will be providing bottled water which has been donated by the Invercargill Warehouse.

The Star club, which has about 220 junior players, will also be providing a healthier bbq, with wholemeal bread and light tomato sauce.

Rugby Southland mascot Steve-O the Stag will be handing out fruit which has been donated by local suppliers, Espin said.

“The Warehouse said they wouldn’t have donated anything if it was fizzy drink, but because we are promoting healthy living they have been really supportive. We’ve also got four boxes of bananas and four boxes of apples to hand out to the kids.”

Espin said there had initially been resistance within the club from some members concerned the traditional sausage sizzle was going to be kicked into touch, but those fears had been allayed.

“We haven’t gone away from the sausage, we are just offering healthier options as an alternative.”

Espin said the club had always promoted halftime oranges within the junior club, and also encouraged juniors to have their own drink bottles at training and games.

He noted other clubs were also looking at healthier alternatives, with Marist and Waikiwi moving away from fizzy drink and providing flavoured milk for their junior players.

“The parents have gotten right behind it. They are saying they don’t want us to give the kids sugary drinks. It might be ok for the odd birthday party, but we shouldn’t be encouraging it (at the club),” Espin said.

Healthy Families Invercargill manager Jared Cappie congratulated his old club Star on the initiative.

“It’s great that Star are championing better nutrition with their junior players and encouraging healthy messaging in the community,” he said.

“We’ve helped clubs like Queens Park football to provide healthier food options through Koha Kai and Healthy Families Invercargill would like to work with any club that would like support in providing a better environment for their members.”

Healthy Families Invercargill is part of a nationwide health initiative charged with galvanising communities to create healthier environments where we live, learn, work and play.