Sold Out

sold ut Spring 2014

The Best Weekend of Your Life

How to plan your weekend out

Can You Handle the Pressure?

The emotions that everybody faces

Know How to Manage Your Body

Make your body the best it can be

The Green Business The Highest Paid Athletes in the World

RED-VOLUTION

Be Unstoppable

welcome to

Sold Out Dear Readers, Welcome to this issue of the sports magazine Sold Out. From the athletes’ perspective, sports are much more than just physicality and talent. The three of us have played a variety of sports and have learned that there are many more attributes to athletics, including diet and health, pressure and gender inequality. In sports, at times these components can be lost in all of the fun and excitement that is produced by the game. Nevertheless, the best times are always created when being involved with sports at the comfort of your home or from the stands of a stadium.

As a result of pondering upon these ideas, we decided that we wanted to bring you this first and last issue of Sold Out to inform you of these different aspects concerning sports, while being entertained with fun statistics, such as player wages and states from which athletes come from the most.

We would like to thank Mrs. Harrison for teaching us all the skills necessary to make this magazine successful. Lastly, we would like to thank the audience for reading this issue, and we hope you enjoy.

Sincerely, Kiran, Chris and Filippos 4

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CONTRIBUTORS The Sold Out staff has come from opposite points of the globe to create this magazine. We hope that you enjoy our glorious magazine in all of its awesomeness, and find the articles and content interesting.

CHRIS VALENTINO is, handsdown, one of the coolest people on the planet. He spends his time playing paintball and chess. He is also an athlete, competing in both football and wrestling. He buys and sells things on Ebay and has made a couple hundred dollars in the past 3 months. One day Chris hopes to live in the mountains and spend his days biking and skiing.

Chris wants to go to Colorado State and become an engineer.

FILIPPOS KALLIVOKAS is, handsdown, the most upbeat and down-toearth guy you will ever meet. From a very young age, he has enjoyed playing and watching sports. His favorite sports include soccer, football, and basketball. He was born in Pittsburgh and instantly became a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The rest of his family was born in Greece (hence the crazy name). Filippos would like to some time watch the FIFA World Cup. KIRAN TOPIWALA is, hands-down, one of the most hard working and honest people on earth. He enjoys watching and playing many different sports, including his favorite sports tennis, soccer and cricket. With family up in Connecticut, Kiran is a big fan of the New England Patriots. Although he was born in Austin, Texas, his family is from a small town in Gujarat, India.

This summer, Kiran is going to London to watch Wimbledon with his family.

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Contents

Items 4 | Welcome Letter 5 | Biographies

13 | The Green Business

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Whether it’s on the field or on the track, in practice or in the heat of competition. An athlete is always trying to get the best performance out of their body. When it comes to an athletic lifestyle the diet is...

GAME DAY WEEKEND

HANDLING PRESSURE 6

Spring 2014 | Sold Out

24 | Where do

Athletes Come From

You’re jumping up and down with your friends and family in front of the 50” plasma TV cheering your team on. You have pizza stains on your signed Marshawn Lynch jersey.

Your dog barks at the sound of the 12th man crowd. Your best friend sitting next to you throws the bowl of chips in the air at the sight of the...

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You may not realize that it is there effecting every action you take, whether in reality or during a sports game. But it’s there. And it can be found and used.

It is one thing in all sports that is common. Pressure.

Though it is everywhere, many people don’t recognize the role it plays in their lives. These roles are affected in many...

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Did you know?

Did you know tennis was originally played with bare hands?

Did you know the Grand Canyon can hold around 900 trillion footballs?

Did you know the game of Tug-of-war was an Olympic sport from 19001920?

Did you know despite players and fans playing/ watching baseball for about 3 hours, the physical activity in a Major League Baseball game, lasts only 18 minutes?

Did you know there has never been a documented perfect bracket?

Consume only the Spiciest

From the Stands The best two days of your week.

Text by Filippos Kallivokas

ESPN’s College Gameday Weekend Broadcast. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ photo by Penn State

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and down with your friends and family in front of the 50” plasma TV cheering the Seattle Seahawks on. You have cheese and pepperoni stains on your signed Marshawn Lynch jersey. Your dog barks at the sound of the 12th man crowd. Your best friend sitting next to you throws the bowl of Doritos in the air at the sight of Russell Wilson’s scoring touchdown. You have your phone and laptop on your lap looking at your fantasy’s team’s performance and scores. You’re watching three games at once. The perfect game day experience is fulfilled.

A football game day weekend is a time to enjoy your favorite teams, sports, socialize with your friends, and be the ultimate sports fan. As one sports fanatic put it, it’s a time to have fun and let loose. According to IB Times and TV by the Numbers, 64% of adults in America say that they watch football every weekend, and 111.5 million people watched the Super Bowl this year. With expert opinions and real life fans, we have all the info on a perfect game day weekend and how you should be spending your time.

“One of the keys to enjoying the football experience is that you are with people that you want to spend several hours with,” said Sports Commentator or play-by-play announcer from ESPN and ESPNU, Carter Blackburn. “That can be other fellow fans, people who are interested in football or the social aspect of the game.”

There are many different social aspects and ou’re jumping up

connections that you can create with the people you invite over. Many football fans invite friends and family because they enjoy spending a lot of hours with them. Michael Spence, an enthusiastic sports fan talks about the people that he invites to watch the big game and the types of conversations/connections that he makes with his guests.

“I usually have some competition going on with them, whether it is fantasy football or rivalries between supporting teams,” Spence said.

Some of these conversations could start from activities that you may have in common. There are countless activities that you can do when watching a game or tailgating, you just have to find the right one for you.

“We usually have a pickup football game, cook, eat, and watch the game,” Spence said when talking about his favorite activities during a game day weekend.

Activities that are popular, interesting, and important for enhancing your sports experience are fantasy sports, a pick-up football game, tailgating, and of course, good food. Each of these activities suits the different needs and preferences that sports fans have. Those needs can be competitiveness, physical activity, etc. A pick-up football game allows you to get physically active and enjoy some good competition; plus the occasional trash-talking. A pick-up football game is when you gather with your friends, create two teams and play football against each other on

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the street, backyard, or anywhere else. Another activity that brings huge competition, excitement, and bragging rights is fantasy sports.

“Fantasy sports is one of the main ways that people enjoy football throughout the season, especially in competition with friends, colleagues, etc. There are so many fantasy sports options out there,” Blackburn explained.

Fantasy sports is a growing industry currently valued around $3 billion, and roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population is involved in fantasy sports according to Fantasy Sports Trade Association. There are many websites that suit the needs of an avid fantasy sports fan that keep you logging in everyday. Websites include NFL.com, CBS Sports, and ESPN. Other websites such as, DraftKings, FanDuel, and FanEx are known for allowing you to place bets and win prize money. In 2012 to

2013, the prize money had increased rapidly showing how the industry is transforming into a multi-billion dollar business with prize money increasing from $50 million to $150 million.

“Fantasy sports is huge to me because of all the excitement that comes with it. There are bragging rights, money, and just pure pleasure that come with being involved with fantasy sports. It’s a lot of fun and I think the name says it all. It’s your ultimate fantasy for sports. And who doesn’t like fantasies especially when it is about sports?” Spence said.

Time spent on fantasy sports depends on how involved you are with the sport, and the stakes that you have placed on your league. The more money on the line, the more likely you’re going to put time and effort into winning it. Your chances of getting all the right picks and winning your league can increase by just simply watching the daily-posted and active sports websites that post videos and articles about all the your favorite teams in the NFL. The more information you are able to obtain, the better your chances are of creating a winning team. And of course, you may want to subscribe, bookmark, or save as a favorite that ESPN, CBS, or NFL. com website.

“I use maybe 5 different websites when making decisions. I don’t have any subscriptions to websites for insights for fantasy sports, but I do have some subscriptions on my TV Tailgating parties are a great way to support your teams to take full advantage and spend time with your friends. on watching the games photo by Ben Vardi I like most and also

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Barbecuing is a common way that people spend their time efficiently and enjoy good food.

Photo by John Sullivan

following my players and my team.

Also, from time to time, I make gut decisions on certain players to pick up or trade, like picking up Zachary Stacy this year,” Spence remarked.

Many fans put their own twists/ ideas to improve their fantasy sports experience. All you need is friends who like sports to do this. You can create many unique traditions and small contests that keep what you’re doing entertaining and competitive.

Some traditions or twists that fans enjoy are like this one below.

“We usually hold some sort of competition every year before the NFL season starts. The competition is to decide who gets what pick in the draft. This year it was a food eating competition. The competition was who could eat the most wings.

Whoever came first had first pick at the order they wanted to be in for drafting. Second had second pick, and so on, and so forth,” Spence elaborated.

As mentioned before, the growing industry of fantasy sports has seen this trend because of the increase in entry fees and the overall amount of people playing fantasy sports.

Money from entry fees and bets has now contributed to more than 50 percent of the industry’s profits according to President of Fantasy Sports Trade Association, Paul Charchian. Placing bets brings a

“new” type of ecstasy in fantasy sports.

“I never make bets with my friends online or through the website, but instead offline where we typically bet $5 each. This keeps the league more interesting, exciting, and nerve-racking when going up against opponents,” Spence said.

Nevertheless, you can have your most memorable experiences at the actual football game itself.

“I would absolutely recommend going to a football game. Two of the best football environments anywhere in the country are easily accessible from Austin. That would obviously be the University of Texas, but also Texas A&M at Kyle field. Also, any small town, anywhere in Texas especially central Texas, is going to have a very interesting view on any Friday Night High School football clash,” Blackburn said.

After the game has started, you will be introduced into the deafening sound of the fans cheering. There are so many great rivalries for every sport at every level that bring many unique and interesting traditions.

“People around the country are envious of the way Texas high school football is a source of entertainment,” Blackburn remarked.

Being a fan and watching the game so close to the actual players and having an influence on their performance is a unique experience. Any sports fan that you talk to, will always recommend going to a football game.

“Both of my most memorable experiences came this year watching the games in the stands. The two games were against Auburn and Alabama at Kyle Field. In the Alabama game, it was going back and forth the whole time and there were so many chances. It was very high scoring and intense. I was really lucky to get tickets because they sold out so fast.

Although we lost, it was so much fun with the intensity of the game and the crowd. It was actually nailbiting. We were always behind our Aggies cheering them on. The same thing happened with Auburn,” John Williams, freshman at A&M, said.

Wherever you are, there always is some preparation that goes into creating the perfect game day experience. If you are tailgating outside the stadium, or if you are watching from the comfort of your house, there are tips for each scenario that will allow you to maximize your pleasure. Tailgating is probably the most common activity. Tailgating allows you to not have to pay the tickets to get inside the stadium, but to enjoy and experience the action of A pick-up football game is a way that fans the game at your comfort level right enjoy physical exercise as well as play outside the stadium next to the team, sports. sport, friends, and fans that you love photo by SalzarE

most.

When watching from your home,

there are endless possibilities for what you are going to eat. You can make your own food, or order food from a restaurant or store.

“I personally really like barbecuing on football game days, when I can, because you are going to spend hours cooking, and hours watching the game, and you can easily do both at the same time and manage your time well,” Blackburn said.

“Usually we have a lot of food like barbecue, pizza, chips, and dips.

It depends a lot on the people we invite over or go to and what we are “feeling” that day. Me, I preferably like pizza. A lot of the times we order the food too, especially the pizza,” Spence said.

Some popular game day food items include pizza, chips and dip, and barbecue.

“Just have a fun time and let loose” “For pizza, I like Mangia, Papa Johns, and DiGiorno. Snacks, I typically just like any brand of chips and a somewhat spicy dip. When I’m with my friends, we might go during halftime and get subway if we haven’t eaten yet and aren’t playing any pick-up or anything,” Spence said.

As we’ve seen, a game day weekend is usually a time to bond and get together to have fun. There are countless social implications associated with watching the games and spending time with family and friends. There is always one tip that everyone should remember in order to enjoy a game day weekend.

As Williams reminded us, “just have a fun time and let loose.” □

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Feel Every Moment

The GREEN Business The Money Behind the Faces Text by: Filippos Kallivokas and Kiran Topiwala photos by: Wikipedia

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veryone knows that athletes get paid a lot, but not everyone realizes that males, more often than not, get paid much more than females. Though athletes’ total earnings vary due to sport, much of their salaries come from endorsements. Top paid male athletes come from a variety of sports including golf, tennis, basketball, football, and soccer. On the female side, high earnings are more commonly found in tennis. In fact, seven of Forbes’ top ten paid female athletes are provided their source of wealth from tennis. The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by female tennis legend Billie Jean King, is prominent in supporting a higher pay and no discrimination against women in sports.

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Highest Paid Female Athletes 10

Paula Creamer Pay: $5.5 million From Endorsements: $4.5 million From Winnings: $1 million

Victoria Azarenka Pay: $15.7 million From Endorsements: $9 million From Winnings: $6.7 million

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Ana Ivanovic Pay: $7 million From Endorsements: $6 million From Winnings: $1 million

Li Na Pay: $18.2 million From Endorsements: $15 million From Winnings: $3.2 million

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Agnieszka Radwanska Pay: $7.4 million From Endorsements: $2.5 million From Winnings: $4.9 million

Serena Williams Pay: $20.5 million From Endorsements: $12 million From Winnings: $8.5 million

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Caroline Wozniacki Pay: $13.6 million From Endorsements: $11 million From Winnings: $2.6 million

6

Kim Yuna Total earnings: $14 million From Endorsements: $0 million From Winnings: $14 million

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Danica Patrick Pay: $15 million From Endorsements: $9 million From Winnings: $6 million

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1

Maria Sharapova

Pay: $29 million From Endorsements: $23 million From Winnings: $6 million

Highest Paid Male Athletes 10

Pay: $44 million From Endorsements: $21 million From Winnings: $23 million

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Cristiano Ronaldo

Phil Mickelson

Aaron Rodgers

Drew Brees

Lebron James

Kobe Bryant

Pay: $78.1 million From Endorsements: $65 million From Winnings: $13.1 million

3

Pay: $71.5 million From Endorsements: $65 million From Winnings: $6.5 million

Roger Federer

Tiger Woods

5

Pay: $59.8 million From Endorsements: $42 million From Winnings: $17.8 million

Pay: $61.9 million From Endorsements: $34 million From Winnings: $27.9 million

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Pay: $49 million From Endorsements: $6 million From Winnings: $43 million

Pay: $51 million From Endorsements: $11 million From Winnings: $40 million

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Pay: $47.2 million From Endorsements: $42 million From Winnings: $5.2 million

David Beckham

Pay: $48.7 million From Endorsements: $44 million From Winnings: $4.7 million

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Pay: $41.3 million From Endorsements: $21 million From Winnings: $20.3 million

Lionel Messi

Now that you have seen the highest paid female athletes in

the world and the highest paid male athletes in the world, you can see that there is a large pay difference between the two genders. The pay difference is so large, that even the top paid female athlete in the world, Maria Sharapova, doesn’t even crack the top 10, the top 15, but instead sits at number 22 in the world for highest annual winnings. To make this situation worst, the next highest paid female athlete comes in at number 70 in the world. These gender equality issues... (Cont. on P.16)

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are not made aware in sports, and many foundations have been made to spread awareness and help make the situation in sports better.

Over time, differences in prize money in tournaments varied greatly between men and women. One instance of this in the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament in England. The Wimbledon website contains statistics of prize moneys given out each year for the different events. Records are kept up until 1968, when the men’s singles prize money was 1,250 pounds more than the women’s singles. At times, prize money differences were as large as about 40,000 pounds in the ‘90s. As time passed, the value of the prize money increased drastically, but it wasn’t until 2007 when both prize moneys were equal. It may take time as it did with Wimbledon, but having equal prize moneys for men’s and women’s events should be a standard. One foundation, the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King, emphasizes and looks towards improving equal pay in all sports no matter the gender. Jean’s organization shows that the main issue is the low attendance and attention for women’s sports events, and works to raise money to reduce the difference in prize money between the two genders.

After a couple of hours, Victoria Azarenka took down Mirjana Lucic in the grand slam tournament, Wimbledon in June of 2010.

Forbes, which contains the highest paid athletes in the world, have shown the top paid athletes get most of their annual salaries from their endorsements. Some additional money that they can earn, can come from just showing up to events. One example of this is Tiger Woods earning a total of $10 million from just making appearances in certain countries like Malaysia, China, and Turkey. Furthermore, the highest paid athletes in the world seem to share the same companies that they are endorsed by. Some of the most frequents companies that we came up across include Rolex, Nike, Adidas, and Coca Cola. The total amount of money racked up by endorsements from our top ten paid athletes in the world is $351 million out of their $552.5 million salaries.

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On Top of the World

When playing in audiences of thousands, every action taken is made under much pressure; it is the pressure to do well.

The Invisible Opponent

Facing what you can’t see.

Text by Kiran Topiwala

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realize that it is there effecting every action you take, whether in reality or during a sports game. But it’s there. And it can be found and used. It is one thing in all sports that is common. Pressure.

Though it is everywhere, many people don’t recognize the role it plays in their lives.

These roles are affected in many different ways, which includes much of tennis coach Michael MacVay’s view on pressure. He finds pressure as, “becoming a hindrance to proper reaction and decision-making.”

Whether the effects of pressure are great or almost non-existent, it is solely up to the athlete about how far these effects go. “[Athletes] are not puppets but instead are the puppet master,” describes MacVay. He says that athletes have a choice in their actions when under pressure. But facing pressure itself in these situations, is completely another story.

Most pressure in sports comes from the stress of playing well and the expectations of family and friends, as well as yourself. ou may not

photo by: Spiralz, England, Wikipedia

In College Station, Texas, the Aggie stadium is full of maroon shirts, being the loudest they can be.

The loudest a group of supporters has been is 137.6 decibels during a NFL football game according to Seattle’s 12th man website.

These fans also take part in the 12th man in the Seattle Seahawks’ games.

photo by: Kipp Jones, United States, Wikipedia

Tennis super champ Vijay Veeraraghavan says, “If they [athletes]don’t perform at the standard they place themselves at then they will probably falter on the mental aspect.”

In professional sports, athletes are trained and told to not try to reach over-the-top standards, but rather try to accomplish what they know they can, and perform what is considered outstanding by fans and supporters.

Money can also play a role in stress. Because of the money factor, there is a “great deal of pressure from the fans and the boosters to perform,” says Texas A&M student Fotis Kallivokas.

But there can also be positive pressure such as that from the 12th man at Texas A&M. “At the end of the day win or lose, the 12th man is always behind their athletes in every way,” says Kallivokas.

The 12th man, is known for being very, very loud, causing much stress to the opponent, on top of the fact they are not playing home. When playing with the home-field advantage, many players feel at home. Much 20

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of the pressure just drains away with the help of the supportive fans.

From a different perspective in more quiet sports such as how golf and tennis can be during play, the stress can come from many different things.

“The most crucial pressure present in a tennis match are emotional stressors,” says MacVay. This means that what is going on outside of the sport such as family troubles among other

“if they [athletes]

don’t perform at the standard they place themselves at then they will probably falter on the mental aspect.”

things can have an effect on one’s performance. But this pressure can be beneficial, especially when one is in a great mood.

Another factor that plays into stress is that of the atmosphere being played in. As already seen, there are many different atmospheres such as those of quietness, loudness and the type of weather. People can have an effect on the atmosphere like the 12th man. Given the contrasting atmospheres, athletes have many various choices as to which they find most comfortable playing in.

“My favorite playing condition is indoors with no elements and perfect visuals,” says MacVay. Oppose to this opinion, many can find playing in more rowdy, and crowded atmospheres comfort them, while the effects and emotions because of pressure remain the same.

MacVay says, “Oftentimes, players feel a range of emotions from frustration, fear, nervousness, impatience and many other feelings.”

Some see pressure as the feeling of stressfulness that is caused by the want of doing

something successfully or in a short amount of time. Many athletes face these feelings while, the result for the amateur often sees results that are not expected and welcoming.

When under stress people are influenced to make actions, which can be negative, that they would normally not take. Negative actions mostly result in mistakes that could result in the downfall of a whole team, rather than just the one under pressure.

“Once the negative dialogue begins, the player strays from the issue of figuring out how to win,” says MacVay. It’s like a cycle: you begin to feel the effects of stress from the necessity of performing well and winning. But then because of the pressure which you don’t know how to overcome, you begin to drift away from the issue of figuring out how to perform well and end with a win.

The important question that comes to mind is that of how to control these actions. Many people just think that ignoring the pressure would benefit them in the long run, but it rather just delays when you finally face it.

A better way to limit the extent

“once the negative dialogue begins, the player strays from the issue of figuring out how to win.” of these actions is to remember that you are in control. Instead of focusing on the fact that you are overcome by stress, one should think about what can be done to win. For example, in tennis finding the opponent’s weakness should be thought of then put to use. This way, as a substitute of being consumed by pressure, your mind is actively focused on how to win.

“Players need to accept the situation and work positively to move toward their goal,” says Coach Michael MacVay. The best way to accomplish this is not to remember the mistakes that have been made, but rather to focus on what caused the error and how to fix it.

“ I try to reset my mind and try to focus on the point in hand instead of the game score or the points that I’ve lost during the match,” says Shawn Tan, another super champ.

When attempting to do this, some people cannot respond to the pressure as promptly as they would like. This can happen for many reasons.

Fotis Kallivokas says, “It’s hard to respond to pressure because they [younger athletes] do not have as much experience.”

More experienced athletes find it much easier to succeed under stress. Instead of taking negative actions that affect the outcome of the game, “A true champion takes the external forces (pressure) and creates a productive dialogue that will help them succeed,” says Coach Michael MacVay. Like many sports, to be one who plays very well, it doesn’t just take the physical ability. The mental aspect of a sport is just as important, if not more than the physical aspect.

The main thing is that they “remember that they [athletes] have a choice in the matter,” says Coach Michael MacVay. ◻

Lining up to kick win or go-home penalty kick, Didier Drogba, Chelsea (at the time), stands thinking, while preparing to shoot against Manuel Neuer, Bayer Munich. At the time, he is under much stress, as all eyes in the packed stadium are on him. Drogba overcame this pressure and scored the game winner.

photo by: Rayand, Wikipedia

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Every Season Every Game Every Point

quality for power and precision www.babolat.com

Where Do Athletes Come From?

Statistics on the most athlete-producing states in the United States

By Chris Valentino

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ver the past couple of years, according to ESPN, about 28.3 million people across the

country have sat down to watch the BCS College Football National Championship and about 20.4 million watch the College Basketball Title Game. Football and basketball are the two most-watched sports in the United States. Many would argue that they are indeed the most popular, as well. Many high school students are getting scholarships to go to college for free just by playing a sport. Where do these athletes come from though? Are some states better at producing athletes than others? Here, we compare the 50 states in how many athletes per year they produce.

This data collection focuses on putting both basketball and football statistics together to get the best picture of what states athletes commonly come from.

Texas is the most athlete-producing state and, according to footballstudyhall.com, has 358 high school students every year go off and play college football. According to medeanalytics.com, Texas has 427 basketball players going into basketball in colleges. California is right behind Texas in the basketball scene, with 405 prospective athletes a year. For football, Florida is second with 320 players going into the world of college football. The graphics on the next page go more into depth on how the states stack up against each other with specific statistics provided by footballstudyhall.com and madeanalytics.com.

It is important to point out that some states may not produce the highest amount of athletes, but, in comparison to the amount of people graduating high school versus the amount of surfacing athletes, their percentage of athletes is high. For example, Louisiana only produces 24

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83 football players per year, this is seventh in the state, but it has the highest ratio of football athletes to college population and about 1.83 percent. The national average for this statistic is around 0.75 percent.

There are some honorable mentions, too.

Alabama, to start with, has a staggering 1.75 football to college population percentage and produces 84 Division I football players per year.

Alabama doesn’t produce very many basketball players though so it is excluded from the list.

On the basketball side of things, Maryland is one of the highest states producing basketball athletes compared to the relatively small college population. The amount of football players Maryland produces is a little low compared to other states.

Texas, California, and Florida are the highest athlete-producing states. On the other side are small and lesser known athletic-wise states like Hawaii, with an average of two basketball recruits per year, and Delaware with its equally low football recruits.

California

Florida 320

FBS FB recruits year

236

FBS Football recruits every year

Louisiana 83

FBS Football recruits per year 126 Basketball recruits per year

232

Basketball recruits per year

Biggest Sports Colleges: Florida and Miami

405 Basketball recruits per year

Illinois

Biggest sports colleges: UCLA and USC

251

158

FBS Football recruits per year

Basketball recruits per year Biggest Sports 68 FBS Colleges: Penn State Football and recruits Pittsburgh per year

Biggest Sports Colleges: NWU and Northern Illinois

232

College Basketball recruits per year

Pennsylvania

159

Basketball recruits per year 63 FBS Football recruits per year

Georgia

Biggest Sports Colleges: LSU and NWS

Ohio

171

Basketball recruits per year 152 FBS Football recruits per year

BIGGEST SPORTS COLLEGES: Georgia and Georgia State

Biggest Sports Colleges: Dayton and Ohio State

60

Basketball recruits per year

Michigan

Texas

60 358

FBS Football recuits every year

427

Basketball recuits per year

FBS Football recruits per year Biggest Sports Colleges: Michigan and Michigan State

Biggest Sports Colleges: Texas and Texas A&M

North Carolina 60

Images by: Chris Valentino

FBS Football recruits per 219 year Basketball recruits per year Biggest Sports Colleges: Duke and UNCC

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Staying hydrated is important to staying healthy. photo by Kieth Allison

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Fueled

Get the most out of your body by putting the best in.

Text by Chris Valentino

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the field or on the track, in practice or in the heat of competition.

An athlete is always trying to get the best performance out of their body. When it comes to an athletic lifestyle the diet is a key factor.

“Having a balanced diet and getting all of the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis is a good start,” said Asmaa Sifuentes, a clinical nutritionist at Bonne Sante & Wellness.

Anybody with an athletic lifestyle knows that what he or she put into their body will reflect what they get out.

“You need a balanced diet to get the electrolytes, minerals and vitamins your body needs.” Suzanne Torres, the Head Athletic Trainer at LBJ High School in Austin, Texas, said.

So, what does your body need? It all depends on the sport or training you are training for or playing.

Depending on your sport or fitness, your body could benefit from more of certain types of food to support your working body. hether it’s on

“The best way to stay hydrated is to drink a lot of water and have water readily available,” Torres said. “Carry a water bottle and, if it’s out on the field, have lots of water readily available.”

So how do you make sure you are hydrated?

“I have pictures up about what color your urine should look like so athletes can self-monitor by the color of their urine,” Torres said, motioning towards one of them.

“For football, we can weigh them pre and post practice to see how much weight they lost,” Torres said. “What we do is let’s say a kid lost five pounds during practice, the next morning we would want to see that five pounds back...pretty much see if they’ve topped of their fluids again. It’s the next morning that we see a deficit when I say ‘hey, you need to drink,’ and ‘you need to drink more when you go home tonight.’ Other athletes can do this too.”

This method is very effective unless you are trying to lose weight. In that case you would need

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to factor in body weight loss to avoid consuming too many liquids and this might get a little confusing.

Staying hydrated involves drinking lots of fluids.

Of course there is water, but what about the times where your body needs a little more? That’s where Gatorade and other sports drinks come in. “[Gatorade] is fluid it also has carbohydrates in there too.” Torres said.

Gatorade contains electrolytes and carbohydrates that help replenish energy sources your body need.

“you want to look at having the rainbow diet, where you try to have something from every one of the colors”

Fruits and vegetables are a great source of energy that won’t upset your stomach. photo by The Meeting Place North

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When you sweat a lot you lose these essential elements. Drinking water and not replenishing these can lead to diluting them in your blood stream, which can cause some wear-and-tear on your body and contribute to extreme dehydration.

“Gatorade is great,” Daniel Degrasse, an athlete at LBJ high school, said. “But I only drink it after a game. It tends to make my stomach upset while I’m exercising, but afterwards it really helps me recover.

I also like the taste of it.”

There is more to an athlete’s health than staying hydrated though. Another key factor is their diet.

“A healthy diet with sufficient amounts of calories, vitamins, minerals and protein,” Sifuentes said.

Specifically, protein is a very important part of an athlete’s diet.

“Protein,” Sifuentes said. “Is very important to support the growth of muscles and repair the body tissues.”

Obviously to keep your muscles healthy and to recover faster you need protein. There are two main ways the body can get protein, food with high amounts of it like meat, beans and nuts, or taking protein powders and supplements.

“Protein can be supplemented in a powder form as a dietary supplement. It’s often used by muscle builders and fitness enthusiasts to increase muscle mass and strength. They can be derived from milk (whey protein), rice, egg, soy or pea protein,” Sifuentes said.

It’s often wondered if protein powders give you the same effect as protein found in foods.

“Protein rich food is better. Anytime you can eat food in its natural state is better,” Torres said.

For some people, obtaining protein is harder than others due to lifestyle choices.

“The challenge is when you have a kid that is vegetarian or vegan then they have to try to make sure they get all the essential amino acids,” Torres said. “They need to make sure they get what they need which is complete proteins which are animal products so they have to mix and match and be more conscious about what they are eating.”

Protein is important to an athlete’s diet. The way you go about getting the protein is up to you, just don’t over consume it.

“Athletes only require a little more protein intake than non- athletes, as eating more protein than the body needs is stored as fat in the body and might affect kidney function,” Sifuentes said.

“I use protein powder in the off season when I’m getting stronger but I don’t during the season, I just eat good foods at that time. I use protein powder because it helps give me extra protein, which helps build muscle. I also seem to recover better when I

A common way consume protein powder is through a shake, just mix milk or water with your powder and enjoy. photo by Sandstein

use it. And it also tastes good.” Winston Baxter, an athlete at LBJ high school, said.

The other components to a healthy diet mostly are of the same importance.

“The focus is just a balanced diet,” Torres said.

What does a balanced diet contain?

“You want to look at having the rainbow diet where you try to have something from every one of the colors,” Torres said.

When adjusting your diet to your specific needs, make sure to focus on the big things, as the little ones will not affect your performance as much.

“Macronutrients you want carbohydrates primarily before a workout because they are used as fuel, whereas protein is more for rebuilding. As far as micronutrients go, Plant-based whole foods and leafy greens are very high in micronutrients as well as seaweed. Fruit is a great energy source and is nutrient dense as well.” Sifuentes Fruits and vegetables haven’t been mentioned but are a great snack because they give you lots of energy and will balance out some other heavy meals.

“The foods that are important for athletes are complex carbohydrates as they provide energy, fiber, vitamins and minerals. These foods include: whole grains, pasta, brown rice, and bran,” Sifuentes said.

All of this seems like normal diet and eating habits but based on your sport, it can change the day before the competition. Distance runners and triathletes have an interesting method that helps them have lots of energy stored for a race.

“Theoretically, you taper your carbohydrate

intake a week before like a race and cut out carbs from your diet until the night before. Then you eat lots of pasta and stuff like that. Your body reacts and dumps Carbohydrates and sugars into the bloodstream so you have more in your system.

You’re supposed to pack it all in your liver and have it available when you are running. That’s the first energy your body wants is sugars in your blood. After that it will go to fat but your body prefers carbohydrates as an energy source and you want as much as possible so when you are carb loading your body will have a bunch of it for you,” Torres said.

For other sports such as football, soccer, and baseball the goal isn’t to eat a lit of one type of food.

For these sports it is best to continue with your diet and not confuse your body.

“A football player doesn’t have to worry about their diet too much. Something good, something that’s not going to upset them… You want your body to take easily anything you give it. So good meals with a lot of fluids,” Torres said.

The night before and hours leading up to a competition, athletes need to watch their sugar and glycemic intakes as they could negatively impact their performance.

“If you have something with a high [glycemic] level that means your body is going to react to it like sugar and that’s not what we want, we want something that’s going to get into your blood system and maintain your blood sugar levels’” Torres said. “So something like a snickers bar is really high, so your body is going to dump a bunch of insulin in your blood to take care of all that sugar and then your blood sugar is going to plummet right before game time, and do you want low blood sugar before a game?”

No absolutely not. This is going to make you sluggish and exhausted.

“Before a [football] game I eat a protein bar and some fruit because it doesn’t really hurt my stomach when I’m playing and it gives me energy so I can play my hardest.” Degrasse said.

The athlete’s diet is a great contributor to the measure of an athlete. You may work out all the time, but are you recovering correctly? You may have run miles everyday, but have you adequately prepared the night before? When you figure out your own needs and diet make sure to include the three big things energy sources, protein, and fluids. These three things can make or break your performance come game time. ◻

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