Health and Nutrition

First Things First

Student-Athlete Nutrition

Help athletes fuel themselves for training and competition and optimize performance on and off the court. Nutrition can be a thin edge of the wedge that separates good teams from great ones.

Consider how you will eat and drink before, during and after. Towards the end of a training session, what separates elite, great and good performers is the energy that they have given themselves by eating and drinking the right foods and drinks.

You can’t out-train a [poor] diet.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin

I wasn’t feeling well in the first half. I felt down, man.

I had three slices of pizza before the game and the food took me down.Leroy Loggins

For elite youth athletes, health and nutrition becomes the thin edge of the wedge. The effectiveness of practices and workouts depends on the effort that can be delivered by participants. Little things that can prevent injury, accelerate recovery, hone athletic abilities and boost responses to training turn good teams into great ones.

Devote a few minutes of a team meeting or practice session to explain and reinforce the importance of these concepts. Coaches should model excellent health and nutrition. Role models can have a tremendous influence on the health of youth. Team leaders can share responsibility by helping younger players understand (i.e. mentoring or presenting) this information.

Little Things Matter