MANSFIELD — Mansfield Distributing Company picked a great afternoon to donate 1,800 bottles of PRIME hydration drinks to the Mansfield Senior football team.
Under an 89-degree sun with close to 50 players practicing on a Wednesday afternoon, Mansfield Distributing general manager Justin Berry and driver Bill Burge arrived at the weight room with four pallets of PRIME to donate.
There are about 450 bottles per pallet. Head coach Chioke Bradley said his football players could finish half of a pallet that afternoon.
“If it stays hot like this, we’ll go through it easily,” he said. “We have a fridge by the weight room that we use for the players and coaches.”
Bradley shared a Facebook post in August asking for donations of water, Gatorade or financial support for the Tygers that would help the team overcome budget cuts.
“I saw that and called Coach to tell him Maple City Ice and Mansfield Distributing has PRIME and I asked if that would work,” Burge said. “Justin and Mansfield Distributing were kind enough to say we’ll donate this much.”
Mansfield Sr. coach Asante Wilder also works at Mansfield Distributing Company. Berry and Burge unloaded blue raspberry, tropical punch and lemon lime PRIME bottles into the weight room near Arlin Field on Sept. 11.
“I think this is our largest donation, but we’ve donated to St. Peter’s, Lexington and Ontario for their field days and soccer facilities,” Berry said. “I want to thank Bill for hooking us up with Coach and getting the word out.”
Mansfield Sr. still accepting food, drink donations to team
Linda Golden, treasurer of the Tyger Booster Club, said the athletic department always relies on community support for many athletic department teams.
“The district operates the athletic department on ticket sales to games, but for many sports like golf, tennis, cross country, bowling, baseball, et cetera — there are no admission sales, so no revenue,” she said.
“Plus, with the addition of fans being able to watch and listen to football and basketball games on digital platforms, it has reduced ticket sales for the school.
“We have received many donations for pre-game meals, summer gear, travel — and food, water and Powerade for practices.”
Golden said parents, local businesses and community members have covered all of the 2024 regular season pre-game football meals, but the Tygers will need support for pre- and post-game meals for the playoff season.
“We also need assistance in travel money for long-distance away games,” she said. “And we always need support for food and monetary donations for the year-end banquet.”
Any business or community member wanting to support the Tygers can call Golden at 740-244-2249.
