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.
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