Allen Community College athletes account for most of the students on campus at Iola. The desire to provide our athletes with the best possible resources to become high level athletes that perform at their peak should be a concern to the college. I believe Allen should followed in the footsteps of larger universities in putting in a “Fuel Station” or snack bar to provide the athletes of Allen with the best possible nutrition for peak performance.

The implementation of a snack bar at Allen would benefit our school in two ways: one, it would allow for better nutrition for our athletes; and two, it could be a part of our recruiting for incoming athletes.

The athletes here at Allen need more nutrients in their daily diet to help their bodies recover and build from their increased levels of activity. Many athletes require a high caloric intake and I believe that our cafeteria alone does not provide the necessary calories for a student-athlete.

Based off what I researched, if a student-athlete ate only one meal at the café but included all the meats, carbohydrates and vegetables it offers, then the person would have a caloric intake of around 1,700 calories, which is well below even the basic recommendation of 2,000 calories a day. However, that number would be the lower end of the spectrum. One can account for more calories throughout the day with students snacking or grabbing some fruit from the café, but still I think the café should offer more to the students, especially athletes.

According to “The State of Science: Student-Athlete Feeding,” the energy requirements for a student-athlete could be up to 4000-5000 calories every day.

Alec Roberts, a baseball player at Allen, came from University of North Carolina-Charlotte, a Division-1 school with fuel stations for student-athletes. Roberts said, “UNC-Charlotte had an above average athletic department, but one thing we could never complain on was a lack of nutrition. We got free protein shakes from muscle milk and smoothies blended anytime we needed. At our café I got two handmade omelets every morning for a year but also there was always peanut butter and jelly made for us after lifts, with fresh fruits and other snacks to help fuel us to be our best every day. Eating high quality food was the most important part to performing to the best of our abilities on the field and classroom.”

If student-athletes want to get in nutrients while here at Allen, it is possible. However, I think it would be an amazing resource for the school to have a dedicated area for the athletes to get in the extra nutrition they need to fuel their bodies after hard days of practice and working out.

For any interested in learning more about nutrition visit: https://www.sportsrd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/State_of_the_Science_on_feeding.pdf