A few years ago I was running a tryout and about 1 hour into it, one of the girls started to be sick, weak and looked a little loss and confused.
Being a Red Cross first aid instructor, I recognized the signs and immediately suspected a drop in blood sugar levels – a condition called hypoglycemia.
I took her out of the sun and into the dugout where I had her sit down and relax.
I asked if anyone had a juice or some sugary beverage. One of the athletes had a fruit punch. I gave it to the young lady and told her to drink it.
Within minutes, she started to feel a lot better.
What happened is that she was so nervous about the tryouts because she really wanted to make the team that when she got up that morning, she was not hungry at all. She was too nervous.
So she didn’t have breakfast and her last meal consistent meal was the night before when she had diner. That means that the body wasn’t fed any food in the previous 18 hours and she was pushing her body hard to impress me!
No wonder she almost passed out – her body was running very low on energy. It’s like trying to run a car without gas in it!
The point is, even if you are not hungry, you must eat a good breakfast that will fuel your body and allow you to peak perform on the field and sustain your energy for the entire tryouts.
Three things you MUST do to have optimal energy for your tryouts:
1) Eat a good diner the night before
2) Eat an excellent breakfast the morning of
3) Pack a light snack and eat it during a break