A soccer coach breaks down a game-day fueling plan: a full meal with carbs and protein 4 hours before kickoff, a banana and PB&J 2 hours prior, and electrolyte sips starting 1 hour out. Timing and macronutrient balance matter more than what you eat.
Hey, I'm a soccer player about to go into freshman year in high school. I feel like I never fuel and eat at the right times before games and practices. Any tips so I can perform my best? This is a DM that I got from an athlete, and I love the question. So I want this athlete to follow my clutch day protocol. What that is, is 4 hours before your game, I want you eating a full meal. You wanna have carbohydrates in this meal, a good source of protein, some fruits, some veggies, a small source of fat to keep you full throughout the day. 4 hours before the game, this could look like a chicken and rice bowl with veggies and fruit on the side. Next, 2 hours before the game would be a high carbohydrate snack. So a really easy example here could be a banana and a PB&J. 1 hour before the game, you're gonna start sipping on some sort of electrolyte drink. This could be a sports drink. If it's not super hot outside, it could literally just be water, but you wanna be sipping and getting fluids in your body. And then during the game, especially if it's soccer, you wanna be making sure you're staying up on your water and eating carbohydrates at halftime. So an easy carbohydrate hack is honey sticks in the middle of the game to keep your energy up and high.
