The Travel Soccer Player Diet for Optimal Endurance and Performance

Before I share where to get the travel soccer player diet, I wanted to share a little soccer transformation story.

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This story comes from the first chapter of Nutrition for Youth Soccer.

This is a story about my son. You see, I have been a dietitian for 16 years and a soccer mom for 10 years. My interest in nutrition for travel soccer started when my son joined the Charlotte Independence, travel team.

But his story and my journey into nutrition for travel soccer starts before this.

Travel Soccer Transformation Story with the Help of the Soccer Player Diet

My son was a typical child until about midway through kindergarten. One day he seemed to be coming down with a minor cold, but it just wouldn’t go away, even after a round of antibiotics.

One night he seemed to be getting worse, so we decided to take him to the doctor. An hour later, I was following my son in an ambulance. My son was soon diagnosed with pneumonia and remained in the hospital for 5 days.

After 5 days, he was discharged from the hospital, but one of the lobes in his lung was permanently damaged.

For almost a year, we tried different treatments and visited many doctors in multiple cities, but he was still having issues. He was consistently getting lung infections and got winded quickly.

Finally, the doctors decided to remove one lobe of his lung. He was young, so they hoped this surgery would cure him and that his other lobe would completely expand almost as if he didn’t even have a missing lobe.

It worked!

He would have to build up his endurance again, but he would be able to run, play, and excel in sports if he wanted…

But one month after the surgery, he developed HSP. HSP is an autoimmune disease in which your blood vessels leak. This can cause internal leaking in the organs as well as bruising on the outer skin. My son had bruises all over his body. Some were larger than baseballs. HSP usually ends after 4 to 6 weeks. However, since there is a risk of more serious complications, my son had to get his kidneys checked for weeks. There were days he couldn’t even walk due to the pain in his feet. He even had to use a wheelchair to go to his doctor’s visits. It was tough to witness, and I worried constantly, but thankfully, my son’s HSP completely subsided in about 12 weeks.

My son fought through these strange issues for almost 2 years, and he was behind physically. Since he was little, my son had played several sports, including soccer, but now the doctors said playing a sport that involved running was crucial.

Travel Soccer Tryouts

Running would help build up his lungs. With encouragement from the doctors, we decided to encourage soccer more than other sports. He did the best he could, but he had less endurance and energy than many of his teammates. My son loved soccer, and he had improved by the spring, so he decided to try out for a travel team.

He made the team in the lowest division and was not the best on the team. When my son tells this story, he says he was terrible, but he is dramatic and holds himself to high standards.

He still struggled with endurance and energy, and he needed to work on his ball skills. But he was having fun and running…and smiling. I would sometimes cry happy tears when I watched him run and play.

He was having the time of his life, then covid…

Changing as a Soccer Player with the Soccer Player Diet

The soccer season came to a halt, but fire lit in my son. He realized how much he missed soccer, so he started practicing at home for hours every day. He had never had much interest in my job as a dietitian, but for the first time, he started asking about what he should eat to help improve his athletic performance.

I told him about all the positive things food can do. By the end of the COVID hiatus, his body and abilities had transformed.

When he was finally able to go back to practicing with his club, the coaches were blown away.

I am about to confess something that some of his coaches don’t know; so if any coaches read this, now they will know I was accidentally eavesdropping.

Taking Notice

I was walking towards the fields to pick my son up from soccer when I overheard the coaches talking about my son. They talked about how they can’t believe he is the same kid, and they said they didn’t remember him playing that well. They shook their heads in disbelief. The following year his coach wrote in his evaluation that he was one of the most technically gifted players on the team.

I share this not to brag, but to say effort, determination, and nutrition can transform you as an athlete. My son is living proof. My son can see the difference in his playing when he eats for athletic performance vs. when he doesn’t. We won’t all go pro or even all get athletic scholarships, but when we consistently practice with effort and focus on nutrition, we can all become the best athlete we can be.

With that being said, I wanted to share a few Travel Soccer Player Diet Tips with you.

Travel Soccer Player Diet Tips

1. Eat the Mediterranean Diet

One recent study looked at the Mediterranean diet, specifically. This study found that the participants became 6% faster after they followed a Mediterranean diet. (Before the study began, they ate a more Western-style diet). These improvements were seen in as little as 4 days (2).

2. Hydration should be your main focus before, during, and after the game.

Dehydration can decrease endurance and performance faster than anything. Hydration shouldn’t start after you feel dehydrated, but before the game even starts. Be intentional about getting in fluids in the hours leading up to the game as well as during and after the game.

3. Your meal the night before the game should be about 60-70% carbohydrates and 10-25% protein.

A high carbohydrate diet is needed to maintain glycogen stores and blood glucose. Muscle glycogen is used for energy during exercise, and liver glycogen stores are used to maintain stable blood glucose levels during athletic performance.

Find a list of meal ideas and recipes, in Nutrition for Youth Soccer: The Travel Soccer Player Diet for Optimal Endurance and Performance.

4. Meals closer to game time should be smaller and mostly about providing carbohydrate fuel and hydrating.

The closer the game gets the lighter your meals should be. You should have eaten to build up your fuel the night before and/or at least 3-4 hours before the game. Avoid high-fat meat and sauces and fried foods the day of the game.

A list of mini-meal and snack ideas is found in Nutrition for Youth Soccer: The Travel Soccer Player Diet for Optimal Endurance and Performance.

You can find a more comprehensive guide on the Best Travel Soccer Player Diet for Optimal Endurance and Performance, in Nutrition for Youth Soccer: The Travel Soccer Player Diet for Optimal Endurance and Performance.

In this book, I will share all the ins and outs of nutrition for the travel soccer player. These recommendations are backed by science, and I can personally attest to their effectiveness as a dietitian mom of a travel soccer player.

What is in Nutrition for Youth Soccer: The Travel Soccer Player Diet for Optimal Endurance and Performance.

Learn how nutrition can help you transform on the soccer field. Find out what foods you need to eat before a game for optimal athletic performance. Learn what foods will help you make quick game-changing decisions on the pitch, and learn what foods to eat through the week to promote peak fitness and endurance.

What’s included:

Game-day meal and snack ideas and recipes
Before-practice meal and snack ideas
The night-before-game-day meals and recipes
What meals and snacks to eat for 2-games-a-day tournament weekends.