Mulgrave Football Club recently won a Vic Kids Eat Well Sports Club Award for nourishing active young players with their all-new canteen menu.
It was wonderful to celebrate this win with the club's treasurer Julie and some of their young players, alongside their local MP Eden Foster and with leaders from Cancer Council Victoria and National Nutrition Foundation at a local media event.
This local footy club decided to “change up their menu” – which is one of the bite-sized changes suggested to participant organisations as part of the free Vic Kids Eat Well initiative. The club worked towards introducing new healthier food options and promoting these to the kids attending the club.
The canteen added a variety of nutritious menu options for active young players including: trail mix, hummus and carrot sticks, muesli bars, cheese and crackers, plain popcorn, yogurt, healthy homemade banana bread, protein bliss balls, salad rolls, veggie soup, homemade air fry wedges, steamed dim sims and toasted sandwiches. As part of Vic Kids Eat Well, local health promotion practitioners from Link Health and Community helped the club entirely revamp their canteen menu and add fresh options for kids. The changes are supporting young players with energy at training and on game day while they also have fun with their teammates.
Want to introduce bliss balls to your club's canteen like Mulgrave Football Club?
Try the bliss ball recipe from our Vic Kids Eat Well recipe book sourced from the Healthy Eating Advisory Service here.
Pictured: Mulgrave Football Club’s popular bliss balls
Healthy hydration
As part of Vic Kids Eat Well, water was also promoted by Mulgrave Football Club as the best hydration option on the canteen menu and made freely available. The canteen placed water bottles at young players’ eye level so they stood out most. Players and spectators were also encouraged to bring their own water bottles to refill them for free.
Did someone say fruit?
The club decided to provide young players with fresh fruit at half time as part of their progress through the Vic Kids Eat Well initiative’s “switch up the snacks” action area. For a gold coin donation, all kids can also now grab a delicious banana or apple as a nutritious snack if they swing past the canteen when it’s open.
Looking ahead
This award-winning footy club is now brainstorming new fundraising ideas that are both nourishing and fun for kids as part of Vic Kids Eat Well. Check out the healthy fundraising “bite-sized change” (action) resource here.