How to pack for those all day tournaments??

 I'm heading out to a tournament this weekend ... here is an article I wrote last summer about what has worked for us when there aren't always food vendors on site.  

Have a great weekend!

Krista

 

Refueling For All Day Events

 Playing in tournaments, invitationals, or other full day sporting events are great opportunities for young athletes to reach new levels of play and have some fun while doing it!  It can also be a challenging day, whether you are the parents supporting the athletes or the young athlete who is working very hard to do well and keeping up their energy to keep playing what they love!
After coming back from a soccer tournament this past weekend, I emptied out all the coolers, cleaned out my car with 20-plus water bottles and other recyclables, and thought about what worked and what didn’t “sell” in my cooler that I had brought for my family’s nine games that were played.  Bottom line … every kid is different in what they like!  I have a few guidelines for you as sometimes these all day events don’t actually sell food and the options on the roads aren’t exactly what you want.

Snacks that are great between games (less than 2 hours apart):
*fresh fruit (my daughters’ teams love grapes, watermelon, strawberries)
*small bagels with a small amount of spread (peanut butter, hummus, cream cheese)
*smoothies (you can bring them from home – ex. Stonyfield Farm)
*pasta salad (make it the night before – a little goes a long way for them)
*cheese stick with crackers
*carrot sticks/celery sticks/cherry tomatoes



Small meals between games (2 hours or more):
*Grilled chicken salad (ex. A Panera salad is great with some bread and a small smoothie)
*Turkey sandwich with some lettuce and tomato (ex. Subway gives you some options that allow you to keep their sandwich just “right” and not too heavy)
*Chicken noodle soup, hearty wheat roll and an apple (ex. Panera does this in a bread bowl with an apple)

Avoid these kinds of foods to deter low energy and belly aches:
*Carbonated drinks
*High fructose corn syrup drinks
*Anything with caffeine
*fried foods
*candy
*highly refined dry cereals

Drinks to bring:
*water
*low sugar fruit drinks
*sports drinks with low sugar (or dilute a Gatorade with water)
*diluted lemonade or fruit juices

Note on drinking during very hot days:  make sure you are sipping consistently versus gulping an entire drink at once to avoid nausea.  See my article on hydration from May.


Hope you are enjoying your summer of sports everyone!  Stay cool and keep refueling those young athletes!  If you are interested in more information please follow me on: facebook: Krista Daley - Holistic Health Coach or @kdaleynutrition on twitter .

“Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.”
-Zig Ziglar