Coaches / Judges Hospitality Room Food

[magmom]

I guess this is a mostly a question for coaches and judges...

Are you typically satisfied with the food provided for you at meets? When our gym hosts, we provide homemade (but standard American) fare. Is that typical? Would you like to see other options? Paleo/primal? Vegetarian? Vegan? Other? What would you like to see in the hospitality room, food-wise?

 

[KieQ]

Good question! We have a gluten free coach and a vegetarian as well so, as a club, we always try to include items they can eat. A mix of healthy and junk food. Chinese, Italian, roast chicken, pizza, continental breakfasts...home baked snacks in between...

 

[Seeker]

I'm not a coach, but I am quite restricted in then foods can eat so having salad and vegetable options is very important. I cannot eat gluten and need to strictly limit sugar. Traveling and meets are hard to find things that are suitable to eat, so just be sure to have those options too as I'm sure there are coaches with the same limitations.

 

[bogwoppit]

Good links for you.

Link Removed

 

[Iwannabemargo]

we have a coeliac coach who does suffer on meets, however most coeliacs I know don't tend to eat food from sources they don't know as they have no guarantee against cross contamination, and she usually brings her own lunch box.

 

[bogwoppit]

Now with the gluten free fad it is easier for celiacs to manage out and about, so I imagine it is easier for them at catered events. I guess the challenge is trusting people to be careful enough to take good care.

 

[my4buffaloes]

I know at our home meet one of the coaches was asking me why there wasn't any fruit anywhere. I laughed and said there is a big bowl of it - hiding behind the cookies. She didn't know we had fruit available. I guess we had too much junk and not enough real food. I think if you have a wide enough selection of items then you are probably fine. If you know you are feeding someone with a special dietary restriction it would be nice to talk to them and see what you could make for them.

 

[kayjaybe]

I run coaches food (and concessions) for our meets. We try to include the following at every meet (although particulars and amounts will vary based on the size of the meet):

• Protein at every meal except breakfast (because we serve very little for breakfast because the never eat it!)
• Fruit available at all times - bananas go over better than apples or oranges; fruit salad
• Something hot at each meal - either the entree or a soup
• Grab & go type food - nothing they need a knife to cut, although we will do things that need a fork or a spoon
• Vegetarian option - although it may not be the main offering - pasta salad with no meat, soup with no meat, veggies & dip, pasta with no meat (meatballs on the side for those that want them)

We've gotten very good with repurposing food up to concessions. So if we have a veggie tray out for a while and it doesn't all get eaten, we bring it up and cut up the veggies and add them to the pasta salad we are selling in concessions.

Some of it is trial and error. We have phased things out and added new items.

Also, ask your own coaches for ideas! Ours have been very happy when we have asked for their opinions.

 

[gymjunkie]

In addition to what has already been mentioned, I love it when there are hard-boiled eggs, because it's quick and easy protein (please leave them out past breakfast!). I like paleo-type choices, because mostly it's a carb-fest at meets. I love it when there is real cream or milk for the coffee!

 

[fuzi]

I also love when there are "make your own" type meals. For example, I've been to meets with a taco bar. You put out the fixings: tortillas, chips, lettuce, beans, cheese, salsa, meat, guac, and then people can cater to their own needs. I'm vegetarian, so I love being able to make a bean burrito, and my friend who loves meat but can't have gluten can make a taco salad and my other friend who doesn't like spicy can leave off the salsa. I know judges appreciate this because then they can cater it to their individual dietary preferences.

 

[Ausi_poppet]

I look after food at many of our in-house competitions and the judges usually like coming to ours because of the food. We used to serve really fatty, heavy food, but the younger judges (who are often competing gymnasts) didn't always like that. Now we tend to serve healthy food that is really yum and sends them home full after a long day of judging. We always make it all gluten free (except for bread which is optional) and offer a vegetarian/meat option. As most of our competitions take place in winter, lunch is usually soups, casseroles or curries (mild). We also put out platters of fruit, vege sticks, dips and crackers and home made slices, cakes and biscuits for morning and afternoon tea. We haven't had anyone ask about vegan, and most of the time those people who are really careful about what they eat bring their own food and then pick out what they want anyway.

The idea of including paleo options isn't a bad one, as that's becoming quite a popular diet here, although I don't think most of the judges are too interested in it yet.

 

[gymdog]

It would be nice if they just actually left/put the food out after or in between the sessions. Half the time, we never see it!

 

[Ausi_poppet]

It would be nice if they just actually left/put the food out after or in between the sessions. Half the time, we never see it!

Yes, when I'm on coordinating food, I always make sure to keep food going until the next break so that people who didn't get enough to eat or had to skip eating to change from judging to coaching can grab what they want. That's why I usually choose foods that I can keep warm in the slow cookers for hours on end.