Tournaments are HARD, particularly in the nutrition category. As a player, figuring out what to eat during a grueling three days of volleyball took time and research.
After not eating enough in the morning at these three days, I inevitably trudged over to the snack stand, starving after the first couple matches, to grab whatever snack was closest. Of course, most of these "snacks" were fried, and the beverage selection was slim: Gatorade and Soda! So, liquid sugar it was and, believe me, I drank Gallons of Gatorade back then with all those salty snacks. But I came away from those weekends feeling heavy and lethargic, aching from playing and weighed down from the food I was demolishing left and right.
Now let’s be serious, I was playing a LOT of volleyball, so who cares how much sugar I drank or what I ate, right? Wrong. I felt distracted while playing because my stomach was so full and constantly thirsty or pasty mouthed. Then I realized that plays I would normally make seemed just out of reach after these snack stand stints. It was so frustrating! So, I developed a set of rules to eat by my later high school years and into my college career. Who knows, maybe if I started earlier I would have been a better player.
