Food Restrictions During Tournament

[tim_s]

Restrictions? no, not my job....

I do try and educate my players & parents about proper hydration, foods to eat before, during & after games......as well as a little bit of general sport nutrition here and there.....i share articles on our facebook page, etc - i consider this sort of thing to be part of my job

 

[Josh Greer]

The coach has no business telling any one else except his own daughter what they can and can not eat. He or she is a softball coach not a dietitian. It is the parents job to feed the kids healthy snacks between games.

I get your theory, but the coach has a responsibility to the team. If Little Debbie spends her break eating little debbies, she isn't going to be able to perform. This will impact the team. As a coach, I would make sure common sense is reinforced; both by reminding about basic nutrition with regards to fuel, and by use of the bench for those who can't perform after making bad decisions.

My middle daughter is sort of the opposite in this discussion. We'd have to force her to eat between games. If she didn't she would crash and that would impact the team. As a coach, when I see this coming, I pull her. If she doesn't like it, she can choose to make better decisions next time.

 

[quincy]

DD has celiac, we just try to keep her hydrated and snacking all day. A couple coaches had a no food in dugout policy that she was exempt from.

How many of you have a no leaving the dugout and no eating in dugout policy?

 

[Cyder517]

Coaches and some parents feel that their lunch slowed them down. Interested to hear your thoughts.

While I’m sure nutrition plays a part in this, it has been my observation with every team that DD has played with, that any break over an hour, shifted the momentum/energy level in a negative way. Playing back to back can be grueling, but with a 3 hr break? Most girls are out of the zone and struggle to get game ready again,


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[IndyHScoach]

DD has celiac, we just try to keep her hydrated and snacking all day. A couple coaches had a no food in dugout policy that she was exempt from.

How many of you have a no leaving the dugout and no eating in dugout policy?

Our policy is that you can eat healthy snacks to help keep energy up but plan ahead. Don't be calling mommy down to bring you food during the game.

 

[ez_softball]

When I coach I encourage HEALTHY meals between games and will often offer to pick-up something or organize a meal. I can't stand the girls going and eating the crap from concessions. I've even had girls go out and eat "at all you can eat" buffets between games. No lie, I had 3 girls go out to a pizza joint and they had a competition on who could eat the most slices. LOL

This next year for travel ball I'm going to bring a folding table and swing by a grocery store to pick-up hoagie rolls, lunch meat and sliced cheese along with some drinks for in-between games. It will only cost $15 to feed the whole dang team and is cheaper than just buying my daughter and I a sandwich at Subway. Parents will appreciate the free food and the girls get to hang-out. Heck maybe even another parent or two will see and offer to do a few of the tournaments.

 

[martianr]

When I read the Title of the Thread I laughed. Not at the title,but my own son and daughter that played on various summer tournaments. And that one parent that their only concern was "Where are we going to eat" or "Lets have a pot luck". I still about it today. I did my best to educate them on eating light and sticking with water and fruit. When the tournament is over than PIG OUT.

My DD HS SB Team has one parent in particular that has to have a potluck on the day of a tournament. Which is during the HOT month of June in the middle of the after and between games. The potluck includes chips, beef, bread and other filling food. Of course there is fruit. I have educated my DD on what to eat and not eat. She in turn has express, her opinion, to a few other girls and they have listened. And some girls were upset about a potluck. The coach did express his opinion on what the girls should eat. So to be on the fence, it goes both ways. The Coach and Parent need to be the one educating them. Not the so called "popular parent" or (think they are).

 

[BuckeyeBW]

The coach has no business telling any one else except his own daughter what they can and can not eat. He or she is a softball coach not a dietitian. It is the parents job to feed the kids healthy snacks between games.

Our coaching staff reminds our girls, and their parents, the need to start drinking as much water as they can on Wed before a tournament. Hydration is huge. They will also remind them to have them eat good. No one sees this as a mandate or feels their parental judgement is being questioned. It is a courtesy. Our coaches also tell them how to field, hit and throw, and even pitch, even though most of the dads were capable ball players themselves. Preparing them for a tournament via diet is no different than preparing them athletically? Eating bad and not hydrating is as bad or worse than using bad mechanics or other part of their game. It is a team and the coach is in charge of that team and if he feels he has to mandate eating maybe he had a bad experience where someone didn't use good judgment and it hurt the team?

We are lucky to have a very good team mom that is well aware of good things to eat between games. She organizes a pot luck of sorts for pretty much every tournament. I am one of those that has to pretty much force my daughter to eat and she really refuses food before first game. Our team goes through pickles like most teams go through sunflower seeds. Literally an average of 5 jars, easy. One of the girls grandfathers makes the best pickles I have ever had and as soon as he opens a jar they are gone. If I catch a bogo sale on pickles I will probably buy 20+ jars.

 

[4 girl's dad]

The coach has no business telling any one else except his own daughter what they can and can not eat. He or she is a softball coach not a dietitian. It is the parents job to feed the kids healthy snacks between games.

Why not? As said above, the coach’s job is to put the entire team in the proper position to win the tournament.

 

[slugger3]

I used to drink a 2 liter of Mountain Dew and eat a box of Little Debbie's every day on weekend tournaments back in the day.

They made me play awesome!!!.

I'd bet it would work good for kids too!