On the Scoreboard page of this sports section, high schools across the region are announcing starting times and dates for physicals for the beginning of fall sports participation.

Thoughts this week turn to hot, humid days in the sun for participants of these games and the beverages which soothe them before, during, and after workouts.

In my own career, I had a brief stint as a football coach – an assistant football coach, to be exact – in a small school in rural Indiana. It was so hot there this time of year – 100-plus degrees – that we practiced in the early morning, and then came back again in the early evening hours after things had cooled down a bit.

Those were the pre-sports drink craze days, and we always cautioned our players to drink a lot of water. We also gave them numerous water breaks. Common sense was the watchword. Mother Nature provided the beverage.

According to Brandchannel.com, the sports drink business worldwide is a multi-billion dollar industry, and there are 3,700 different sports drinks available for athletes of all ages.

According to Hannaford Brothers, a regional grocery chain, the top four sports drinks in Maine in their stores are the popular Gatorade, a division of PepsiCo; Powerade, a division of Coca-Cola; Capri Sun, which is in the midst of a huge advertising campaign, announcing an added feature of electrolyte balancing to its list of reasons for buying the product; and Hannaford’s own Sports Fuel, a generic brand of sports drink, appearing on the shelves of Hannaford Brothers Supermarkets.

Arthur Curtis, grocery manager for Broadway Hannaford in Bangor, said that Gatorade outsells the competition 3-1. In fact, Gatorade sales represent 80 percent of the sports drink market in the United States, while Powerade holds down the distant No. 2 spot at 10 percent of sales. All other sports drinks combined represent only the remaining 10 percent of the business.

I’m just old enough to remember the onslaught of Gatorade and its related paraphernalia here in eastern Maine. The beverage itself was a 1965 invention of four scientists at the University of Florida. Drs. Bob Cade, Jim Free, Alex D. D’Quesada, and Dana Shire set about to find the perfect solution for football players to help them endure the hot, summer training camp days in Gainesville.

Their collective research resulted in a simple sugar and salt mixture, which fortified carbohydrates and balanced electrolytes such as sodium and potassium in the body. The drink was first tried by the freshman football team, the Gators, with great success. Two years later, the varsity Gators won the Orange Bowl, crediting the drink for the win. Next, the National Football League bought into the product in 1969. And by 1987, when New York Giant players dumped a cooler of the drink over winning Super Bowl XXI coach Bill Parcell’s head, the world knew about the beverage.

In Bangor, Mike Turner, owner and operator of Turner Sporting Goods at the Maine Square Mall, sells schools Gatorade Sideline Enrollment Packages, which are ordered from Gatorade by Mike’s store, then shipped directly from the sports drink people to the schools.

The biggest sale of this program takes place for fall sports preparation, when outdoor practices – sometimes hot ones – are more prevalent in Maine than during any other season.

In basketball, my first memory of Gatorade occurred while I was teaching and coaching at Central High School in East Corinth in 1976. I remember the kids being all excited about having this “new” sports drink, which came with a huge orange cooler and had to be mixed with powder and water.

One night, my manager, a diligent young boy, came to the bench and told me the players were complaining because the solution was warm.

“Why?” I asked.

“I thought the powder could only be mixed with warm water,” he responded sheepishly.

The lad then proceeded to get some ice from the kitchen. Problem was, the warm water made the powder settle on the bottom after cooling, creating a grainy drink.

We finally got the formula right, and the kids loved it.

With all the hoopla these days and the associated marketing schemes to sell the aforementioned drinks, the American Sports Education Program (ASEP) still lists cool water as the best fluid to consume in hot weather while working out. Here’s why.

“Cool water is the best fluid to drink because the stomach absorbs it faster than it does electrolyte (sports) drinks,” according to ASEP.

“Athletes can replace and balance electrolytes at home by eating a diet that contains fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Score another one for Mother Nature.

NEWS columnist Ron Brown, a retired high school basketball coach, can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net