Athletics and Academics: The Perfect Partnership

BY NICHOLAS LAMARCA

IN AUGUST OF 2021, the Whitney Athletic Center opened its doors at the University of Delaware. This beautiful, state-of-the-art building was built with two purposes: to provide the necessary resources for student-athletes to succeed at the highest level and to offer opportunity to all University of Delaware students to gain practical experience in their degree of study.

Housed within the Whitney Athletic Center is the Blue Hens sport performance team, led by Deputy Athletic Director of Sport Performance and Campus Recreation Dan Watson. Four major areas that make up this team are performance nutrition, sports science and analytics, athletic training, and strength and conditioning.

These areas are critical to the overall success of student-athletes, and have provided avenues of career development for the entire University of Delaware student body. Director of Performance Nutrition Kelly Rossi has fully integrated students into the daily work flow of the performance nutrition team.

“Our student leaders are the driving force behind everything that we do,” Rossi stated. “They help our dietitians with overall efficiency, and have a major impact on the health and performance of the student-athletes, while providing students a high-level educational experience in performance nutrition.”

The students focus on daily nutrition education, management of inventory, fueling, and executing meals between workouts. The performance nutrition team works directly with the Behavioral Health and Nutrition department to help provide opportunities for students with a higher interest in sport nutrition. Many major in nutrition and dietetics and utilize these opportunities to gain hands-on experience.

Department Chairperson Jillian Trabulsi, PhD, RD is an ardent partner in the relationship between the two departments.

“The integration between the Behavioral Health and Nutrition department and performance nutrition team has served as an incredible pathway to help enhance the academic experience and career opportunities for our students,” said Trabulsi.

Richard Levy is an assistant athletic director for sport performance, focusing on strength and conditioning. Here, students are involved with all training program implementation. They receive first-hand experience and skill development in annual periodization planning, exercise instruction, speed and conditioning development, and risk management.

In one of the fastest growing areas of sport performance, Director of Sports Science and Analytics Christina Rasnake mentors over 30 students over the course of an academic year, majoring in areas such as computer science, economics, statistics, and sport management. They learn statistical analysis for sport, performance technology implementation, data management, and data visualization. Students work during practices and games, tracking GPS performance metrics and recording repetitions based on specific positions and tactical plans developed by the coaches and support staff.

“We could not deliver the high level of integrated services to assist our student-athlete performance needs if it weren’t for our talented students,” Watson said. “It’s a win-win-win for sport performance, the academic programs and most importantly, the students.” n

Nicholas LaMarca is associate athletic director of marketing and engagement at the University of Delaware. To learn more about the staff and the resources that the University of Delaware sports performance team utilizes, visit www.bluehens.com/sportperformance.