Dustin Ray

English 1102-049

Professor Ingram

April 2nd, 2013

Is it important to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle as a high

school soccer player?

When many people begin to think about high school

athlete’s they think how physically fit and active they most likely

are. Being a high school athlete is something that the athlete

should take pride in because they have the privilege to be able to

represent their school while playing the sport they love. Any high

school athlete who wants to succeed and do the best they can will

try to get the best jump on their competition by being in better

shape than them. Whether they are trying to compete for a starting

position on the field over their teammate, or competing one on one

with a member of the opposing team, one would think the athlete

who is in better shape will come out on top. When it all comes

down to it, how necessary is it to actually be in shape and maintain

a healthy lifestyle as a high school soccer player?

I played high school soccer all 4 years of my life and I can

honestly say I was not the most in shape athlete out there. Yes, I

was able to run for long distances and be able to play the entire

game, but there were clearly people out there who were in better

shape than me. Throughout my research I have found numerous

studies saying what soccer athletes should and shouldn’t eat as

well as what exercises they should be doing in order to become the

best they can be. According to a study of female soccer players

done by Ms. Leyre Gravina she concluded that just by changing a

few eating habits, the athletes could achieve a body that suffers

less during matches, which in turn, increases the possibility of

enhancing their performance. Now this study was done to a

professional female’s soccer team so the results might be slightly

different towards male high school athletes but it resembles the

same approach of eating habits. Ms. Gravina also concluded that

effective measures can be taken to affect nutrition and enhance

sporting performance. The number of red blood cells increases

with greater ingestion of proteins, folic acid and vitamin C. I’m

not so sure I agree with her study because I did not take the right

care for my body when I played high school soccer and I ended up

being fine. I wouldn’t really watch what I ate but I wouldn’t eat

anything horrible as I already had a sense of what I shouldn’t eat

before a game or practice. I never had any specific dieting or

nutritional paths either unlike some high school athletes do. I think

that Ms. Gravina’s study is helpful for certain athletes who want to

be in the best shape possible, but it is not mandatory that one

should follow what she says.

Another study done by Don Kirkendall, a member of the

US Soccer Sports Medicine Advisory Board and the FIFA Medical

Assessment and Research Center, states that soccer is a high

demanding sport that depletes muscle fuel which in turn results in

fatigue. In an average game one soccer player will run about 5.6

miles throughout the entire contest. He explains that the more

intense a game is could result in accelerating glycogen depletion,

which means soccer players need to fuel their body like a marathon

runner instead of just another ordinary athlete. It takes a lot out of

a soccer athlete to be able to run close to 6 miles in one game

which is where being in shape could actually help you in the long

run. Coming from my point of view as a high school soccer

player, I was able to run long distances like that but until I read Mr.

Kirkendall’s study I was never aware of how far a soccer athlete

actually ran in one game. Like the previous study I don’t think it is

mandatory to be in shape in order to run long distances like this. It

does help, but a high school soccer player won’t be in too much of

a world of hurt if he cannot do it.

Soccer players also have a high calorie intake for the most

part. According to Joe Morella and Richard J. Turchetti, authors of

Nutrition and the Athlete, they classify specific sports and the

differences between them. In this book soccer is classified as a

high energy sport that requires sustained periods of time where the

energy exerted is extremely high as well as having an above

ordinary caloric intake. They recommend soccer players consume

an average of 4,000-5,000 calories per day to help produce enough

energy that their sport demands of them. A normal male’s calorie

intake per day should be around 2,500, so a soccer player’s calorie

intake is almost double of what a normal male’s is. I know I did

not consume 5,000 calories while I was a high school soccer

player. From my personal experience I would say a high school

soccer player should consume around 3,000 calories per day.

Professional Olympic soccer players consume on average 10,000

calories per day but they’re on a completely different level than

other normal high school athletes.

Another exercise based informational site I found while

doing my research talks about specific exercises soccer athletes

should do. The article describes soccer as a fast action sport that

uses multiple fitness components. Endurance training is a big part

of being a soccer player. The National Strength and Conditioning

Association recommend one and a half hours of conditioning

training twice a week. The other main thing soccer players need to

work on is their nutrition. Proper nutrition helps an athlete stay in

shape. They recommend a soccer athlete should eat healthy meals

that contain lean meats, fruits and vegetables, whole grain

carbohydrates and drink water to stay hydrated. Coming from my

perspective I did eat a lot of fruits and vegetables while I was a

high school soccer athlete. I also did eat a lot of meat but I didn’t

necessarily do it because of soccer. I would just eat whatever my

parents made for dinner which is why I ate a lot of meat and fruits

and vegetables. For the conditioning part of this site I agree with

what is said. When I played high school soccer we had a two hour

practice every single day after school when we didn’t have a game.

We would run a lot as well as do conditioning type drills to try to

keep us in shape.

Overall, after looking at all of my resources I would say

that one does not necessarily need to maintain a healthy diet and

lifestyle to be a high school soccer player. I will say that one

cannot be extremely lazy and do nothing and expect to be good.

They have to put fourth some sort of effort. One can be successful

with playing soccer while not being completely in shape. That’s

basically how I was and everything for me turned out fine in the

end, I started almost every game my junior and senior year and

didn’t come off the field too much. A high school soccer athlete

does not necessarily need to be in the shape of greatness, but it

would be beneficial for them. Any athlete who is in top notch

shape will most likely have an advantage over other athletes who

aren’t in shape. Coming from experience, they do not need to be

in shape in order to be able to play high school soccer.

Works Cited Page

Basque Research. "Eating Habits of Female Soccer Players and

Consequences for Sporting Activity." ScienceDaily, 20 Jan.

2010. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.

Karinch, Maryann. Diets Designed for Athletes. Champaign, IL:

Human Kinetics, 2002. 12-18. Print.

Kirkendall, Don. "Fighting Fatigue: Understanding And Managing

Soccer Fatigue." Performance Conditioning Soccer 17.3

(2012): 1-3. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 28 Feb.

2013.

Morella, Joe, and Richard J. Turchetti. Nutrition and the Athlete.

New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, 1982. 64-67. Print.

Wolfe, Lisa. "10 Ways to Stay in Shape for Soccer."

LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 Mar.

2013.