Gatorade and NFL Launch Third Annual Beat the Heat Campaign to Educate Youth Football Players and Coaches About Heat-Related...( All 32 NFL Teams to Participate in S...),Health

All 32 NFL Teams to Participate in Safety Campaign to Help Boost Awareness

and Raise Charitable Funds

CHICAGO, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- As teams around the National Football League (NFL) and schools across the country prepare for two-a-day preseason practices, The Gatorade Company will join forces with the NFL to lead the third annual "Beat the Heat" campaign aimed at educating parents and football coaches about the importance of hydration in order to keep athletes safe on the field during the annual summer sessions. This year's Gatorade Training Camp program, which includes donation days, youth clinics and a national media campaign, follows the very successful campaigns of 2006 and 2007 and is part of an ongoing effort by Gatorade and the NFL to reduce the number of preventable heat-related injuries each year.

As part of this effort, Gatorade will oversee league-wide Gatorade Donation Days at training camp to raise money to further the awareness and educational efforts of the Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation (KFMF), which was founded by Mike and Rhonda Fincher in memory of their son, Kendrick, who succumbed to complications from heat stroke during the summer of 1995.

"When we created the Foundation, our primary goal was to make sure no parent would ever have to experience what we experienced with Kendrick, especially when heat-related illnesses are almost 100% preventable," said Rhonda Fincher. "It's so important for parents and coaches to pay extra attention to proper hydration awareness and cool down techniques to help ensure players stay safe on the field during hot summer practices. Gatorade and the NFL have been instrumental in getting the message out to a much greater audience."

The ongoing team effort between Gatorade and the NFL is built on communicating heat-illness prevention and treatment techniques, including the key tools all teams need to defend against heat illness: education, preparation,
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