As you may know, I’m a bit of a sports mom. My kids play baseball, softball, football, and cheer. I pretty much have bleacher butt spring, summer, and fall. Their nutrition is important to me all year, but it is even more important during their sports season. How are they to perform at their best if they are weighed down with empty calories and chemical-laden foods? You don’t prepare for the Olympics by eating junk food now do you?
Earlier this week on my Facebook page, we had a nice debate about the merits of snacks after games. You all had a lot of good thoughts there. There was talk of fellowship time with the team and coaches……….yep that’s good stuff! Someone said it is a good way to re-energize their little bodies. A lot of you said that it’s just a nice thing to do. I couldn’t agree more! Unfortunately though………candy and sweets and artificial colors aren’t what I want to feed my kid. They are in training, right?
The high school where my son plays football has a new coach this year. We all have been anxious to see how things go. My son is a senior so he has grown used to the ways of the old coach. As a side note……….. I love our old coach as a person. He did a great job at teaching our boys to grow up to be men. However, this is a food blog so here is where I have to pick a bit. The football team has a team dinner before their game every Friday. It appears that they have been at the mercy of whoever donates their meals to determine the menu. Sometimes it was healthy and sometimes not so much…………. Our new coach has declared that the menu every week will include chicken, pasta, and salad. Ahhh……..a coach who cares about the nutrition of his players. I think I like this guy!!
OK………..want to find out why I want to kiss him now? (Just a figure of speech Mrs. Coach……I’m a happily married woman) In my email this afternoon is an email to the team parents asking for fruit to be donated for half-time to refuel the boys. Fruit! Yes, he wants fruit!! Bananas and Oranges are the request. I almost fell out of my chair. Instead, I got up and jumped around in excitement. Good thing the boss was out this afternoon! That would have been a sight to see! I am thrilled that someone, other than my boy’s crazy real food blogging momma is encouraging him to eat real food to fuel his body for his chosen sport. Eating bananas and oranges at half-time is going to be something cool that the football players do. Hooray!
This is the first time that a coach has ever requested fruit from me. I’ve been asked for sweets plenty of times, but never fruit. I sure hope that this trickles down to the younger athletes as well. Can you imagine a world where all of our little athletes are snacking on fresh fruit? Oh……….what a wonderful world that will be. Thanks Coach for really looking out for my kid! I can’t thank you enough.
How do you think nutrition plays a roll in youth sports? Do you have a coach that talks about sports nutrition? Do you know of any good resources to check out for youth sports nutrition?
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How exciting for you! I remember that our football team always had a HUGE dinner (really late lunch) on Fridays that was always the same: pasta and salad with some protein. Lots of carbo-loading. And we used to tease the guys because every half time they had orange wedges in their mouths. I was a cheerleader and we were in charge of slicing the oranges for the guys for half time. I thought that was still pretty much standard practice for high school athletes, but I guess things have changed over the years! Glad to hear you have a smart coach! 🙂
You know the drill my little cheerleader friend! Only things have changed. They do have a team dinner before the game, but they often ate junk because that was what they would have donated. It's so nice of businesses to donate food, but it wasn't always the best from a nutrient point of view. I love the idea of the cheerleaders slicing oranges. I'll have to pass that along. Right now, the parents are in charge. I can't wait to see the boys with the oranges in their mouths. New picture opportunity!
I am excited to hear that people are finally paying attention to whole real foods!
It is an exciting time! Progress is slow, but things really are changing!!
That is awesome! I coached my daughters soccer team for many years and requested healthy snacks for the team from the parents. Everyone was on board and it worked out well. The kids didn't even know the difference. Glad to see some of the schools are getting on board too.
Blessings,
Shari
Your team was lucky to have you as a coach. I sneak in healthier organic granola bars and juice for snack and they always eat it. I do see some of the parents looking at labels and wondering what I'm bringing. That always makes me laugh a little.
I think nutrition is really important for our young athletes. My kids are pretty good…well at least 2 of my kids are pretty good. The oldest one likes his "crap food," as I call it. I just try to make sure most of what he eats is real food. It's awesome when a coach backs it up!
My teenager eats more "crap food" then the others. He has made huge changes, but since he started his real food journey at an older age, it has been more difficult for him. He is also easily influenced by food at outside events which is why I was so excited to find a coach who encourages good nutrition. It is a big help!