Water Friendly sports ideas

Leadership and commitment

• Gain support from your club or venue’s leadership and broader community to commit to being a Water Friendly venue.
• Encourage your coaches or venue’s leaders to model healthy drinks behaviours. e.g. ask them to go ‘sweet drink free’ for a week or a month and publicise this throughout your sporting community.
• Do not allow sponsorship, advertising or fundraising involving sugary drinks on your premises, at events and in sporting activities. Alternative fundraising ideas are available.
• Consider getting support by becoming a Good Sports Club and or working with the Healthy Eating Advisory Service.
• Larger venues can put a healthy drinks policy in place that is communicated and reviewed regularly. Sports and recreation centers can refer to the Healthy Choices policy guidelines in Victoria.

Provide supportive environments

• Consider ways to improve access and promote free water sources e.g. water coolers, water fountains, drink-bottle refill stations or free water refills.

Canteen / kiosk-based changes (where applicable):

• Place water on the front counter and make sure water is at eye level for your customers.
• Rearrange your drinks fridge layout to make healthier drinks more visible (see Planogram for tips).
• Remove soft drinks from the counter or remove them from sight.
• Limit soft drink options.
• Display the Good Sports ‘Winners Drink Water’ and ‘Water is Available’ posters at the cash registers.

Community partnerships and awareness raising

• Engage your community in Water Friendly initiatives.
• Post Water Friendly messages on your social media channels.
• Promote the ‘Choose Tap‘ message
• Help raise awareness that we don’t need sports drinks – see YMCA’s Sports Drinks fact sheet 
• For larger venues or clubs, you may be able challenge your community to drink tap water only for one month.