Could you please pass this message on to all student-athletes?
With the recent unveiling of the Athletic Departments new strategic plan, one of its objectives is to protect and enhance our student-athletes physical and mental health and well-being. In order to satisfy this objective, one of the initiatives that has been developed is to create an athletics nutrition committee focused on improving options available for student-athletes. One of our first steps to improving the options available for student-athletes is to create a student-athlete fuel station. Based on surveys conducted by the Athletic Performance Department and the Exercise Performance and Nutrition Lab, 50-60% of student-athletes miss breakfast 3 or more times per week, and 30% of student-athletes said they never eat breakfast. The primary complaint for missing breakfast was lack of time and the hours breakfast is served. In response to these survey results, we are going to pilot a student-athlete fuel station starting March 19th. The fueling station will be set up in the old coffee shop in Evans (near entrance for the Evans Dining Hall) and will be open from 7-10am Monday-Friday. Student-athletes that are short on time can simply head to the fueling station, swipe their student IDs, and take their grab bags with them to class. The grab bag will consist of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fruit, and a whole grain snack. These items were selected based on survey results of the top preferred grab bag food options. Since this is a pilot student-athlete fueling station, we are asking you, the coaches, to promote the fuel station to your student-athletes in hopes of not only getting all of our student-athletes to eat breakfast, but also in hopes of getting enough support to expand the fueling stations hours and food options.
