The Season Has Started, News (St. George Minor Hockey)

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Sep 18, 2016 | rdelaney | 961 views
The Season Has Started
Well, as of tonight Rep try outs are complete and teams have been made up with players knowing where they are playing this season.  Parents, I am sure, have already noticed the impact of being back to school and back into the swing of hockey craziness.  I know that my family has certainly felt the difference.  With all of this going on it can be challenging to find a way to balance life and at times rest and nutrition suffer. 

Far be it for me to give educated advice on rest and nutrition (Friday night was rush home from work shower, change, run the hockey try out, rush home, change into my work clothes again, eat a baconator combo on the way back to work and work through the night to get up on Saturday to start everything all over again.) but when ever possible try to plan ahead for your meals to so that you are not scrambling at the last minute.                           Rest is very important to not only our young athletes but for our parents too.  I will keep this short and sweet.  Get your rest.  It will improve the amount of patience that you have with your life outside of hockey as well as your life with hockey.  Not to mention driving safely to and from games in what can sometimes be challenging winter driving conditions.  As far as our little athletes go rest and recovery is an integral part of any sport that they play.  The physical demands of practices and games should leave them a little drained (if the have given their all on the ice)  their muscles will be sore and they will be mentally fatigued.  Make sure that there is some structure to game and practice days as well as the days leading up to them and after them so that home work is finished and adequate sleep is being had to allow their bodies and minds to recover and be ready for the next day of school and hockey.  Lack of sleep or recovery time leads to lack of interest, moodiness and injuries.
From a nutrition perspective, I am far from qualified, as I mentioned before, but my philosophy is this - the better the fuel the better the performance.  This applies to pre game and pre practice as well as post game and post practice.  Stick to "real foods" in a balanced meal with proteins, carbs and fruits and vegetables and stay away from fast foods and sugary treats as much as possible.  For pre activity the idea is to build a reserve of fuel energy that can be used during the activity.  Fast foods, processed foods and sugar are terrible fuel that will burn up quickly and in some cases cause sluggish and poor physical response.  For post activity the idea is to provide the body with recovery fuel to replace what was used during the activity as well as the fuel and building blocks to repair any damage to the body.  It is generally a good idea to stick to water and proteins for good recovery.  Again, stay away from fast foods, processed foods and sugary treats (however sometimes a slushy after a game aids in the mental recovery).

Once again, I am no expert but that is my two cents worth from my past sporting life.  There are much more qualified people and literature out there for those of you who are interested in looking into the subject further.

See you at the rink.
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