By: Carson Hamilton
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) — This local business has poured its community influence into college athletes. Located less than a mile from the heart of campus, the University of Arkansas has Swoon Juice Bar, creating healthy options to fuel Razorback Athletics.
Inflation has increased and people are noticing the effects on food prices from this. Moreover, student athletes must prioritize their nutrition in school and for these students that might be more expensive than others.
As these individuals are a major part of the community, Swoon Juice Bar took it upon themselves to partner with student athletes to aide their personal nutrition.
Many athletes on campus have access to different dining opportunities to fit their needs, but not all of these options are the healthiest, even if they are the most convenient. Owner and manager of Swoon Juice Bar, Roman Villasana, noticed this concern and sought out a solution.
Seeking out holistic solutions to mundane fast food problems, the Juice Bar was born. Using natural and fresh ingredients, athletes can get their energy from healthy sources rather than packaged and convenient options. Yet, this opportunity to work together is only something new that college athletes are now allowed to do.
Athletes now have Name, Image, and Likeness, legal rights to control how their images are used and endorsed. Villasana uses this opportunity to work with athletes and endorsements. NIL has had negative flashbacks from the public; however, Swoon Juice Bar is working to change that within the community.
By sponsoring athletes with nourishing food, smoothies, and juices, these sponsorships are endorsing the athletes from the inside out. Without monetary compensation for public postings on social media, it eliminates the negative element of NIL that the public was concerned about. Instead, athletes are encouraged to experience the benefits of nourishing ingredients before posting.
This relationship creates trust within the community, but it also highlights the younger generation experiencing the business skills in action that they are learning while in school. These athletes have a public platform, and their influence on the community brings more business in. Sophia Sedlar, Swoon Juice employee, believes in the impact they are making on the city.
“Having student-athletes, a lot of people look up to them, and to be an athlete, you need to keep up with a certain healthy diet to maintain a physical endurance in your physical abilities,” said Sedlar. “That is kind of the main reason why we do it, because it benefits both parties.”
Swoon Juice Bar has also poured into the Razorback Spirit Squards. These athletes do not have access to eat at the Jerry & Gene Jones Student-Athlete Success Center like other sports teams on campus. This cafeteria is for student-athletes to eat, yet Cheer, Dance, and Mascots do not have access to this benefit.
Razorback Cheerleader, Anna DeFrancisco, has been on the team for three years. Throughout that time she has grown a close relationship with the owner.
“It’s really nice of Roman to do this for us,” said DeFrancisco. “He sees and recognizes all the hard work we put in and he fuels us even when the university does not.”
She makes it clear how the university does not prioritize all of its athletes nutrition, more specifically the athletes that support other athletes.
Instead, Swoon Juice Bar allows all Spirit Squad athletes free nourishment. This ensures that they have the ability to focus on school and sports without having to prioritize every meal. These athletes have very strict schedules with managing not only their own sports but other teams as well.
These teams have the responsibility of meeting their own duties as well as supporting other sports teams across the nation. That means that these athletes often have little free time in their schedules. Yet, these are also the students who are sacrificing their personal lives to cheer on other sports.
Thus, Villasana thought it was only right to invest in the teams that are also serving others. From community engagements, private events, and public games, the spirit squads are constantly in the public eye, and the value behind the juice bar benefits each of them one sip at a time.