The North Dakota Beef Commission partnered with the Rugby High School Panther Boosters to offer protein-rich snacks during the winter sports season to give athletes an extra boost of energy.

Keeya Hager, whose children play basketball on Rugby Panthers varsity and junior varsity teams, said a member of the beef commission asked the booster club if they would participate in their Powered by Beef program for the 2021-22 winter sports season.

Hager said the commission chose Rugby High’s athletics program “because they knew we (Panther boosters) treated our athletes pretty well. I took the idea to the booster club and that’s how it got going.”

The program gave funds for the booster club to offer beef as a high-protein way for student athletes to fuel up.

“It’s a program they’re doing statewide,” Hager said. “All of the beef products that we purchase to give to the kids as a snack or a meal are provided to us through funding from the North Dakota Beef Commission with check-off dollars.”

Hager explained check-off dollars are funds generated from a $1-per-head assessment on beef in North Dakota. The money is used to promote beef to consumers.

Hager said the program encouraged the boosters to offer food such as hamburgers after games, tacos, or “anything we could come up with that used beef.”

The boosters provided athletes with beef sticks on certain game days when they traveled.

“They would get those for their road trips,” Hager said of the student athletes. “I think if we do it again, we’ll have more of a variety.”

Hager noted the boosters participated in the Powered by Beef program as a trial run this winter.

She said when teams got together for banquets or other meals during the season, “We offered to provide meat for that.”

“It was so they would get enough protein in their day and in their diets,” Hager said. “There are lots of nutritional gaps happening in adolescence. There are lots of nutrients that students are missing.”

The boosters sent a letter home to each student athlete explaining the program, “There are many nutrients that are students are lacking, however, 50% of those nutrients are provided by eating one serving of beef.”

The letter also pointed out students are “eating high-processed, high-sugar foods at breakfast and not getting the protein they need to mentally have success in the classroom or when physically exerting themselves in sports.

“Protein is essential for muscular and cellular repair and growth, so it requires proper intake. If you are a teen athlete, then it is even more important,” the letter added. “Your training and performance break down muscles more than non-athletes, so you need to make sure they rebuild because your muscles are made of proteins.”

Hager added the boosters would likely consider adding variety or tweaking the program a little if they decided to use it next year.

However, she added, “I thought it was good. I thought for a program that was just starting out, the kids appreciated having something to pick them up after a long day of school and then going to play a game, or, if they saved them, for after a game so they could have something to get them home.”

Beef snacks went to players participating in hockey, cheerleading, girls’ and boys’ basketball, and wrestling.

Beef recipes to help students fuel up for any school day are available at www.ndbeef.org/cooking.