SHARKS AND GNC LIVEWELL JOIN FORCES IN 2005
Friday, 4 March 2005
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are proud and excited to announce a sponsorship arrangement between the club and GNC (General Nutrition Centers) LiveWell Australia, for the 2005 season.
Under the agreement GNC will be the 'Exclusive Supplier of Sports Nutrition & Health Products' to the Sharks in 2005, with the club to name the Toyota Park gym the 'GNC Sharks Gym', with appropriate signage to be displayed to signify the sponsorship association.
Sharks strength and conditioning coach Trent Elkin has seen the players use the wide range of GNC products to their advantage during the off-season, with the team fit and strong and ready to become a force in the 2005 premiership.
"Having access to the GNC products during pre-season has been a big bonus for us," Elkin said.
"The players, in consultation with myself and our dietitian Joanne Turner, and with the help of GNC products, have made some significant improvements in their strength and body shapes during the past few months".
Ms Turner, brought in by the Sharks during the recent pre season, was equally enthusiastic about what the players have been able to achieve due to a combination of a training, good nutrition and GNC supplements.
"The most important thing for the players is to be able to safely supplement their food intake," Ms Turner said.
"We often need them to take supplements to fill the gap that is created due to their high nutritional requirements and heavy training workload. The variety and the quality of products we have available from GNC allow us to do that.
"We use GNC because of the high quality of their products and because we can't take any risks with what the players take. We need the level of safety that GNC products provide. They are tested to IOC certified standards so we know exactly what they guys are taking."
The Sharks players will continue to use GNC products throughout the season to assist in their recovery from the demands of games and training, to ensure strength levels and weight gains or losses are maintained.
Edward Atkinson was equally as excited to be forming a partnership with the Sharks, while hoping the association would be a long and mutually beneficial one.
"We are thrilled to be involved in the NRL this year and even more excited to be partnering with such a respected club as the Sharks," Atkinson said.
"The Sharks strength and conditioning team know the advantages that sports supplements will have on the club throughout the year and have certainly shown the professionalism in the area of nutrition that we look for when partnering with a team. We look forward to a long and successful association with the Sharks starting this season and continuing into the future."
Opening its doors in America in 1935, GNC has grown to become the largest herb, vitamin, weight management and sports nutrition retailer in the world. GNC boasts almost 6,000 stores worldwide, operating in 40 countries, clearly making them a market leader.
All GNC stores carry the high quality GNC brand of products, all of which are subjected to over 150 manufacturing quality and safety checks. GNC LiveWell has been operating in Australia for five years. There are currently 35 stores in on the east coast of Australia, with 16 in Melbourne, 18 in Sydney and 1 in Brisbane, with plans to continue expansion throughout Queensland and into SA and WA.
GNC are very excited about partnering with the Sharks, seeing the two organisations as market leaders, with both boasting a loyal following while striving to be at the forefront in their respective fields.
