Triathlon Ireland has brought on board a new sponsor of its expanding coach education programme.
Udo’s Choice, a nutrition product sold by Naturalife, based in County Wicklow, is to be the official partner for an initial one year period.
The brand is part of a suite of products offered by Naturalife Health and distributed to health stores and pharmacies around the country. The company also offers an online service and will be teaming up with Triathlon Ireland at race events and coaching courses over the course of the next 12 months.
“It is fantastic to partner up with a company such as Udo’s Choice,” said Triathlon Ireland CEO Chris Kitchen.
Benefit
“Their sponsorship of the Triathlon Ireland Coaching Programme will not only enable us to drive this hugely important area forward but also is a great fit for the organisation with products that can be of real benefit to training.”
“Coaching is a foundation to the development of triathlon and we look forward to a close working relationship with Udo’s Choice to help us develop and strengthen the sport in Ireland.”
Membership of Triathlon Ireland grew by 15% in 2013 and this year registration is already 1,000 ahead of where it was 12 months ago.
Vodafone has committed as the main sponsor of the sport through to 2016 and Sport for Business understands that serious consideration is being given to bidding to become one of eight global hosts of the World Triathlon Series.
Olympics
“At elite level Ireland now has more triathletes than ever before vying for qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio, along with, for the first time ever, medal opportunities in paratriathlon at the Paralympic Games,” added Kitchen. “
The talent amongst the younger ages is also burgeoning with 17 athletes on the Irish Youth and Junior Squad, up from 6 just a year ago. All this means that a strong coaching programme is more important than ever before.”
“Triathlon Ireland and Udo’s Choice is an ideal partnership as the interest in endurance sports has quickly grown over the last number of years, particularly with those now keen to take part in triathlons,” said Naturalife Health Director Darragh Hammond.
“This is the perfect example of our focus on fuelling athletes and improving performance as triathletes are very aware of the nutritional requirements needed to compete at this level. Being a cyclist myself I know first-hand how closely nutrition is tied to performance”.
Aside from a physical presence, the company will also be providing a wealth of nutritional advice and tips on the Triathlon Ireland website and through the monthly newsletter for members.
