Spring Sports are off and running with a BANG! Many of our Air Academy athletes are ready to win. In order to be a strong athlete while participating in high-intensity activities, you must have proper nutrition before games and during your season. Every athlete is different, but finding the right type of food to fuel your body is very important.

When figuring out what to eat before a game as a young athlete, you must take into account what you are putting into your body and whether or not it is good for you. It does not matter what sport you play, eating right is the key to success. Many experts say that eating lots of carbs before partaking in any athletic event will help you maintain a great level of energy. Along with this eating, protein will help your muscles; it helps keep them strong.

Athletes can get protein and carbs through many types of foods. Carbs that athletes can eat for energy include but are not limited to whole-grain bread, crackers, cereal, pasta, and nuts. Proteins that you can eat before a game can be things like Greek yogurt, cheese, any type of meats, eggs, and fish. There are also alternative protein sources like protein powders that come in an array of flavors. Make sure you balance your diet with all these carbs and protein sources with other types of food and lots of water. Watch out for foods that are high in fat and sugar content. After all, you are what you eat.

Almost every Air Academy High School sport’s teams have team dinners the night before a game or tournament. These dinners are the perfect way to get the proper nutrition that every athlete on the team needs for the next day. Likewise, they are also a great way to get to know your team better and bond with them.

Cross Country: 

During Cross Country season all the runners love eating carbs on carbs on carbs. Therefore, pasta is a favorite pre-race meal for most runners. Because they mainly eat pasta the night before, they began to use the term “pasta parties” instead of “team dinner.” Before they run, many of them eat a banana or Gatorade energy chews as a quick source of “fuel”.

Hockey:

The Air Academy hockey team had dinners before every game. Although, unlike cross country, they have something different every time. The goalie of the team, Brandon Kurtz, said that at “one of the team dinners, we had pulled pork, and that was our favorite team dinner of the season.”  Along with this, many of them ate cliff bars or power bars before the game for energy.

Swim and Dive:

This year, the Air Academy High School swim and dive team had a very expansive team full of talented athletes. Their dinners consisted of lots of pasta and other carbs much like the cross country team. Before they competed, the swimmers all had their own ways of fueling their bodies quickly. The divers loved eating Goldfish.

Girls Lacrosse:

The girls lacrosse team at Air Academy has something different at every team dinner that helps them prepare for their game the next day. There first team dinner was a pasta party that gave them energy for the next day’s game.