Unless you haven’t watched TV or read a magazine in decades, you’ve probably heard of Gatorade, because it was formulated over 40 years ago. But did you know how it got its name? If you do, you probably also know the interesting story of its invention: over 40 years ago, in the mid-sixties, Ray Graves, University of Florida Gators football team coach, was concerned with how his players performed during Florida’s sizzling summers. So he asked the team’s doctor for help. The doctor, a team of researchers and Graves collaborated, and the result was a unique mix of lemon juice, water, potassium, sodium phosphate and sugar, which helped replenish electrolytes lost through sweat. The resulting product was called Gatorade, in honor of the UF Gators.
In the U.S., Gatorade drink mix is now the official sports drink of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, USA Basketball, the National Hockey League, the Association of Volleyball Professionals, the US Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer and many other professional and collegiate organizations. In the National Football League, Gatorade is used in mass quantities for “Gatorade showers,” during which the head coach of the winning team is doused with the liquid in a large cooler of Gatorade by his teammates. This began when Harry Carson and Jim Burt of the New York Giants poured Gatorade on head coach Bill Parcells in the 1985 football season. The custom gained in popularity and now all head coaches get the shower after winning a game.
This popularity has given rise to Gatorade cans becoming available in the marketplace, so sports teams can have the big quantities they need and not have to pay the retail price. Most individual consumers don’t buy Gatorade powder like that, but there are a surprising number of smaller sports teams and organizations that do. They buy it in bulk, just like the major teams, which is a real money saver to Little League teams, nonprofit organizations, cities and municipalities that run marathons, and other smaller groups. Interestingly, the United States military also purchases it in large quantities. It’s good to know that the soldiers who defend us are being well cared for by the government, and that they’re well-hydrated!
