NUTRITION FOR SOCCER PLAYERS: SMART EATING WHEN TRAVELING

Healthy Nutrition Tips For Air, Car and Hotel Travel For Youth Soccer Players and Teams

Traveling to tournaments or weekend games can be stressful on the body and mind. Nutrition can play a key role in achieving high performance.

Smart Nutrition for Soccer Players from Amy Dirks. Discover what makes this column so different: Read Meet SoccerToday’s Nutritionist Amy Dirks – Great Info for Soccer Players of All Ages

Soccer players of all ages are always looking for nutrition advice and valuable tips for what to eat for peak performance. Here is Amy Dirks’ latest column on what to eat when traveling to soccer games.  

Have a nutrition question? Ask Amy! Just email Amy or visit Amy Dirks Sports Nutrition.

Travel can be exhausting for adults as well as youth soccer players. After standing in lines, braving crowds, and dealing with turbulence or traffic, even the most nutrition aware players, parents and coaches can use a few tips! Vacation travelers can be tired and rest the day after the flight or car trip but youth soccer players are expected to spring up ready to perform at their best. When the purpose of the trip is to compete at a high level and everyone wants to win, good nutrition can help make the difference between energy on the field or a difficult recovery.

Great Tips For Smart Nutrition for Traveling Youth Soccer Teams

3 Important Nutrition Tips for Airplane Trips:

1. Hydration is key so pack an empty stainless steel water bottle to refill.  Kombucha and Coconut water are also good choices.
2. Wash hands well and often.  Drinking an Emergen-C or Airborne drink before flying is a good idea for the extra Vitamin C.
3. Pack a snack bag for traveling, especially for long flights and wait times between meals and to avoid buying “junk” in airports.  Foods to include:
   • Beef/Turkey Jerky and or fruit leathers
   • Rx Bars, Lara Bars, Kind Bars, or other healthy bars
   • Nuts, Seeds, and Trail Mixes
   • Dried fruit, freeze-dried fruit such as apple chips
   • Justin’s Almond Butter in individual serving size packets w/ dried bananas or pretzels
   • Fresh fruit (apples, oranges, bananas)
   • Single serving guacamole or hummus
   • Applesauce packets
   • Popcorn (made with coconut oil and sea salt)
   • Veggie sticks (carrots)
   • Ready to make oatmeal (just ask for hot water)

3 Important Nutrition Tips for the Hotel:

1. Utilize the mini-fridge in hotel rooms. If your room does not have one, ask if one could be brought to your room. Store boiled eggs, yogurt, fruit, and any leftovers that can be used for other meals and healthy snacks.  
2. When a buffet-style meal is served as a team, take extra fruit and veggies, tea, eggs, etc. back to your room to eat later. 
3. Try some deli meat and lettuce/veggies for a quick wrap as a snack.

3 Important Nutrition Tips for the Car Ride:

Remember, “A failure to plan is a plan to fail”.  

Plan out your trip before so that you have everything necessary on hand to eat healthy and be able to drink plenty of water.

1. Keeping a cooler in the car is a must!  Other travel luxuries include warmers you can plug into the cigarette lighter, Bento box style containers, and you might want to invest in a good stainless steel thermos’s.   
2. The idea is to have heathy options in the car’s cooler to keep you from stopping at fast-food restaurants. Try having:
   • Mason jar salads
   • Mason jar parfaits with granola and fresh berries – a great non-messy way to enjoy a healthy treat.
   • Almond butter with fruit spread or honey sandwiches
   • Quesadillas; try gluten-free tortilla and serve with plain Greek yogurt and black beans and or corn salsa
   • Chicken salad (serve w/ lettuce as a wrap, Nut thins crackers, or tortilla)
   • Salmon salad (tuna or egg salad too
   • Chili (variety like sweet potato and black bean or Mexican style)
   • Baked potato and sweet potato (load these up with chicken, beans, cheese, salsas, etc.)
   • Meatballs (chicken, turkey, beef, veggie-change up the sauces for variety or add to skewers with other veggies)
   • Tacos (can be deconstructed)
   • Make a large batch of rice, grilled chicken, and roasted veggies and separate into bento boxes or Tupperware.  Bring a side of sauce for additional flavor
   • Frozen smoothies in individual cups which thaw in the cooler
   • Veggie noodles with a protein and pesto sauce
   • Homemade energy balls
3. If you need to, or it is easier, stop at a big grocery store along the way and pick up a rotisserie chicken and bagged salad or explore the grocery store’s salad bar

Remember, research where you are going for local options and look for a few familiar places where the players will feel comfortable and know the food!

One more travel tip: It is smart to familiarize yourself with the specifics of the travel. How long is the flight? What are the meals served on board or options to buy food? Do players have credit cards to purchase food onboard as few airlines accept cash on a flight? Will you land in a different time zone and how will that affect mealtime? How far is the destination airport to the hotel? How far is the hotel from the fields?

For more complete information on great choices of what to eat, please check out Amy Dirks:  NUTRITION FOR SOCCER PLAYERS: WHAT TO EAT WHEN

Want to reach Amy Dirks? Email at Amy@SoccerToday.com her for more information