One of the things that really hit home for me while watching the Bobby Sox tournament a few weeks ago was the importance of planning for food!
I admit, the organization my daughters’ were playing for was excellent at making sure the girls had something to eat after their day was done. Both parents and kids had some great food to chow down after the games were done for the day which I thoroughly enjoyed! However, I think we (parents included) could have done a better job at making sure our kids had “fuel” THROUGHOUT the day.
Why do I say that? Because my youngest daughter completely “ran out of gas” in the last game of the day. She was on the 8U team and had to be at the park at 9:00am because their first game was scheduled at 10:30. Not too bad. At least we didn’t have to wake up too early to make sure she had breakfast and everything before getting to the field (as opposed to the 6U team that had to be at the field at 6:45am! Yikes!!!).
So we all (our whole family) had breakfast before heading to the field which was great. But because my daughter’s 8U team was coming from the loser’s bracket, they weren’t going to have a short day unless they lost quick.
Well, they didn’t lose quick.
In fact, they won their first game and had to play again right after. I’m not complaining because I love to see my kids play. It just meant that there was NO time for going back to the team tent to eat.
They ended up winning that game too which forced an “if necessary.” Cool! Except for the fact that the “if necessary” game had to be played down the road at another park and the team had just an hour to get there. Again, not enough time to get all the girls under the team tent to sit and get some food in their bellies.
About half way through that 3rd game of the day, I noticed how hungry I was! You see, I my 3 daughters were playing in 3 different age divisions and, every other game, I was running back and forth between the 2 fields trying to catch at least parts of all my daughter’s games. Between going back and forth and trying to take pictures during the games, I never really stopped to grab food. By the middle of that 3rd 8U game, I was starving (and I wasn’t even in the sun playing or coaching).
Yes, I was driving back and forth (in an air conditioned car), but the rest of my time was spent under a tent, in the shade with a camera in my hand…and I could sit down any time I wanted. I can only imagine what my daughter felt like after having been on the field for 3 straight games.
Right about the time I realized I was hungry I heard my daughter’s coach letting the players know who was going to go where on the next defense (there are minimum play rules in Bobby Sox). Then I heard my daughter ask one of the coaches if she’s going to stay in or go out. The coach told her that she was going to be playing the whole game. She burst into tears (a strange reaction to getting an entire game of playing time right?).
Of course, the coach asked her what was wrong and she cried, “I’m tired.” The thought that immediately crossed my mind when I heard that was that she was probably starving too!
Of course, 3 games in and of itself can be pretty tough on an 8 year old, but I’m pretty sure part of her exhaustion was due to the fact that she hadn’t eaten much since breakfast that morning and it was already after 2:30pm. That’s a long time not to eat when your in the Hawaiian sun burning your energy playing softball game after softball game after softball game.
3 games in one day is already a lot for 8U, but throw in lack of “fuel” for the body and it becomes even tougher. I know many people’s first reaction to crying and taking yourself out of the game is not necessarily positive – what kind of softball player does that anyway?
But I have to admit, as a coach, I’d rather have a player tell me that they’re sub-par so I can put someone else in that is more fresh and ready, than go out there anyway, not feeling well and play terrible … AND risk getting seriously hurt or more sick.
Sometimes it’s just not smart to keep pushing. As and athlete, as a parent, and as a coach, we need to realize when that is…even though it can be a very tough line to define at times.
So, do you have a tournament food plan?
The best way to make sure you have “good” fuel for your players (not just packaged junk food) is to prepare ahead of time. It’s true you may end up with more than you need if your team loses sooner than expected, but it certainly beats not having enough – especially when the well being of our kids are at stake.
So that’s one of the things I learned during the tournament. There’s always something right? What did you learn at the last tournament you attended? Leave a comment below to share your tournament insight!
We make sure our daughter begins fueling her body 2 days in advance of a tournament. Lots of water, protein, good carbs, fruits, absolutely no heavy, fried, or super starchy foods. Then for game day this is example of what we pack: water, gatorade, pedialyte (clear), watermelon, melon, bananas, grapes, whole grain pita pockets stuffed with lean turkey, 1/2 slice sharp cheddar, spinach leaves, thin slices of cucumber, almonds, sm. pretzels, jerkey, veggie chips, protein bars, cherub tomatoes, tiny dill pickles, sometimes we do turkey wraps instead of the pita pockets. We do try to change it up some from weekend to weekend so it doesn’t get boring. There is a big difference between the way our daughter performs all the way to the end of tournament day compared to the girls who eat concession stand food or bring greasy chips, cookies, cold drinks, etc. At the end of day one of tourney we make sure our daughter again starts drinking water on the way home to replenish herself, we will then go home and eat a light dinner. You never want anything heavy on their stomach.
After 3 years of doing this, it shows in her performance. We just completed 2 weekends in a row of 100+ degrees. She never fell in a slump, never felt sick, never had any muscle cramping.
Hope this helps.
This is our daughters year playing 12u travel ball so we were pretty new to this. I’ve coached many times at the recreational level and she has played since she was 8 but had never played this much within a 2-3 day span. We knew the team we joined from playing with most of the girls in our rec league. Being an established team they already have a system in place that seems to work well. Each players parents bring snacks for the players as well as their families. We bring such things fresh fruit, nuts, granola, and any other energy foods that may be easy to carry. We also plan ahead for meals. Often we will grill out back at the team tent. Several of the fathers get together and starting grilling out during the last game we play before a break so that the girls amnd families can eat without having to during their break in games. We grill anything from chicken breast to shrimp. The parents bring in sides that can be kept easily in coolers. This gives the team as well as the familes time to sit back relax, enjoy a lite nutrituos meal without being in a rush. Not only is this a convenient economical way to handle meals it is also a good team building activity for the team members and the different families.
food is like fuel to our body as well as liquids. It’s very important that we refuel and recharge ourselves throughout the day especially if we have 3 games for that day. What we put to practice might be put to waste because we don’t have energy to perform.
Nice article! This is what we sometimes neglect and forget to look into