BATON ROUGE – As part of their team orientation ahead of the 2013 season, members of the LSU Soccer program learned about the importance of proper nutrition in fueling their success on the field while meeting with the University’s sports nutrition coordinator Jamie Meeks between their two-a-day practices on Wednesday afternoon.
Meeks has proven to be a valuable asset to the program in her tenure at LSU as she works with the coaching staff to educate the Tigers throughout the school year.
Meeks says that she typically meets with the team once a month during the season following her preseason introductory meeting, and even more frequently as much as once per week during the offseason while the team goes through spring training to ensure their preparation for peak performance continues year after year.
With an office that is conveniently located in the Broussard Center for Athletic Training outside the Northeast corner of Tiger Stadium, she also meets with the players individually upon request if they need her help in scheduling out their meals, understanding what foods to eat in the dining halls and even grocery shopping off campus to provide further education in their daily lives.
“Coach (Brian) Lee is really great with keeping nutrition very consistent within the program, and making sure that there is continuous education throughout the season,” Meeks said. “It’s important for athletes to have proper nutrition not just for their overall health and well-being, but also to achieve their optimal sports performance when they’re on the field.”
A primary goal of Wednesday’s seminar was to introduce the importance of nutrition, which Meeks says can be just as important as hours of practice in preparation for a game.
She also talked about the different types of nutrients the body needs to achieve optimal sports performance and how to incorporate proper meals into a specific diet required for a soccer player, which included talking about the foods a soccer player should eat before practice, in pregame meals, the night before a game and even after practice or a game for proper recovery.
For more information about the sports nutrition program at LSU, fans and athletes can follow @HealthyTigerLSU on Twitter and like Healthy Tiger on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsuhealthytiger.