The National Dairy Council has announced that Ireland and Munster rugby star and Clare-born Eimear Considine as an ambassador for 2022.
From Kilmihil, Eimear plays for UL Bohemians and Munster and has played at full-back and wing for Ireland women’s rugby union team since 2017. She works as a secondary school teacher and was a ladies’ Gaelic football and camogie player for her county. She was aged 18 when she won ‘Player of the Match’ in the Ladies Gaelic Football Association All-Ireland Intermediate Championship final in Croke Park in 2009. She did not take up rugby until she was 23, when she moved to Dublin in 2014 to start teaching.
National Dairy Council caught up with Eimear at the Sport Ireland Institute Launch to find out more about how her passion for sport and dedication to a balanced and nutritious diet, help her perform her best,
Eimear shared how she continues to maintain her healthy diet and rugby skills off the pitch, which keeps her mentally and physically in shape for the next foreseeable game, saying
“The important thing for me is a healthy balanced diet of protein, calcium and vitamin-based foods. I choose milk as my supplement of choice to keep my body in good condition and to stay hydrated after I train. As well as being an affordable, natural, versatile, and widely available choice, milk also provides a range of vitamins and minerals”
A glass of milk offers an abundance of electrolytes in a fluid form to assist rehydration and provides several vitamins and minerals with important roles for health including calcium, phosphorous, and potassium to support bone health, iodine to contribute to normal cognitive brain function, vitamin B2 to assist with energy release, and vitamin B12 to support normal functioning of the immune system.
Dr Sharon Madigan, Head of Performance Nutrition, Sport Ireland Institute said “Paying attention to eating and drinking habits can impact greatly on the performance of all athletes at all levels. Food is an effective performance enhancer in many ways. It provides us with energy, it builds and rebuilds the body and it can deliver nutrients that are the building blocks of many of the physiological processes involved in exercise. Training plans rarely stay static so neither should your nutrition routine. All athletes will benefit if they tailor their food intakes to suit their own individual needs and are aware that these needs can change throughout the training and competition seasons”.
The National Dairy Council’s media campaign – ‘From the Ground Up’ – is back on TV, encouraging people to take pride in Irish dairy and demonstrating the passion and commitment of the farmers that make it happen.
The new 20’ and 30’ spots feature NDC Farmer Ambassadors Eamon Sheehan , Shane Fitzgerald and Louise Crowley (Limerick) explaining how they take care of the environment, employ sustainable farming practices (and why it’s important) – and how dairy farming is central to Ireland’s national heritage.
For more information about our campaigns and for advice form the experts in sports nutrition information please visit www.ndc.ie.