My field experience took place at the University of Delaware’s Whitney Athletic Center. The Whitney Athletic Center was created for all of the university’s student athletes, and provides a safe learning environment, exercise and performance facility, and nutrition education center. I specifically spent my time at the Fred Rullo Family Nutrition Center, providing educational tips to optimize student athletes’ nutritional needs. I worked alongside the Sport Nutrition Performance team in providing nutritional education tips as well as other tasks which included inventory, prepping of nutritious snacks, setting up game day fuel, and much more. The performance nutrition team included two registered dietitians, student volunteers, capstone interns, dietetic interns, student employees, and community nutrition students. The sport registered dietitians were my preceptors for this field experience. They did an outstanding job of guiding me through the fundamentals of sports nutrition for NCAA athletes.
At the beginning of this experience, my initial thoughts were that I would be behind the scenes, cooking and prepping in the student athlete kitchen. However, I got the optimal experience of being able to shadow the registered dietitians as they took weight measurements of athletes, spoke about proper fuel intake, and discussed supplement nutrition education. Both preceptors went above and beyond in providing feedback, pushing me to critically think, and educating me in proper sports nutrition. One of my specific tasks included providing the athletes with a nutritional snack prior to their lifting exercises. The snack would be geared towards providing them with fuel for the workouts. I was also responsible for providing them with nutrition education, such as the benefits of the snack, along with the recipe, for the opportunity to make the snack themselves. Additionally, I would log each student athlete for participation points and encourage those to come back for more! The logging of participation was crucial to observe the success of the nutrition education lessons. This also provided incentive to the athletes to achieve the goal of earning the most points at the end of the season for a reward. Other activities I completed involved inventory and stocking. I was responsible for counting the number of supplements and snacks, then loading them into their designated areas. I also loaded pre-game, half-time, and post-game carts with nutritious snacks. It was valuable to learn about the different snacks provided for different sections of the game.
Key takeaways from this field experience were learning about the importance of electrolytes and the different servings given through various supplements. The importance of meeting a certain weight in sports nutrition was another eye-opening experience. Learning the different positions and their specific weight requirements were constantly discussed when the registered dietitians would assess body mass index (BMI).
Lastly, I acquired a whole new outlook and respect for the hard work these athletes put towards making sure they are physically ready for everything the sport entails. My perception of the population served from this experience has changed tremendously since the start. I was not aware of how much athletes rely on proper nutrition and what goes into their bodies. They were intrigued to learn about the benefits of the snacks we provided. They were extremely set on achieving or maintaining their weight requirements, which prompted them to ask the registered dietitian for tips and guidance on weight management. They were also adamant about taking their assigned supplements to ensure they were properly fueled on and off the field. This site and the activities completed provided a great foundation of nutrition and health knowledge.
The most worthwhile aspect of this experience was the presence of the registered dietitians. I was able to approach one of my preceptors, outside of the field experience, for input regarding pursuing a career as a sports registered dietitian. Having the opportunity to shadow them and ask questions motivated me to want to continue this career path and look for dietetic internships with a focus on sports nutrition.