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Parents Guide...            
Welcome to youth soccer ! 

The Soccer Institute is developing a complete A-Z Parent's Guide.

Here's a sample of the content...beginning with the letter "A"

A  Parents Guide to YOUTH Soccer...

          Assist....your child by being an active engaged Parent.
          Allow......

          Always...be a good role model.  Kids pattern what they see. 

    Topics for Youth SOCCER Parents:    

                      
   Rules            Camps         TSi Premier Club      Contact US
 

Nutrition for soccer players is unique...with food and fluid intake levels determined by body weight, weather, training and competition schedules.

You are what you eat....

Most athletes know and understand the importance of eating correctly. Nutritional needs for soccer players include meeting the essential dietary elements to cover your Basal Metabolic Rate (amount of  energy required to keep your body functioning properly) as you grow and train.

Fatigue leads to mistakes in performance....

Poor diet can result in these symptoms:

fatigue, lack of concentration, muscle cramps, shortness of breath, tiredness, and dehydration.

Adequate nutrition for athletes is a key component of sports performance.  It only makes sense that if you are training and competing you will need to increase the number of calories in your diet ..so you have fuel to burn during the game.

A healthy nutritional program for soccer players involves being responsible about what you eat and drink before, during and after performance.

Stored muscle glycogen provides a great deal of the actual energy required in soccer training and competition.

Soccer players and meals...

Before:  It is important that you have high muscle glycogen levels before you begin the game.

So Eat a good meal about 2-3 hours before the game.  Typically pasta and carbohydrate foods are recommended pre-game because they break down easier than proteins (ie. steak) and provide the first fuel source during competition.

During: Staying hydrated is the key concern during games and training...especially in the summer.

It is not recommended to drink products like soda or sugar sweetened drinks.   WATER works fine.

There are also sports drinks like Gatorade that provide electrolytes to replace what's lost from sweating.

After: After a match, glycogen levels are quite severely depleted (as high as 84%) and players can lose 1-5% of body weight through sweating which can result in impaired endurance performance. If insufficient post-exercise carbohydrate consumption takes place then the glycogen levels may not be restored. This means that performance may be affected for the next match or training session.

Research done on world class soccer players indicates that about 55-60% of the total calories consumed to be carbohydrates. 

Soccer players at every level can improve the chances of playing at peak performance levels by eating a varied and healthy diet and consuming plenty of drinks.

A soccer player diet includes adequate quantities of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water or sports carbohydrate drinks (during competition and intensive training).

Check out the USDA Daily Guidelines for a healthy diet.

   Click here to go to the : www.mypyramid.gov

 
Getting TSiSoccerFit will require regular endurance training like bicycling, swimming, jogging, or better yet...dribbling a soccer ball for 20-30 minutes at least 3 times per week.