Coaches, what food do you really love having at meets?

[Natasha]

We are making preparations for our home meet. I would love to hear from coaches your favorite food items and snacks you have had at meets. Thanks for your input!

 

[nevertooold]

Breakfast - real milk for the coffee, including non-fat. Something besides pastries or donuts. Yogurt, homemade breakfast casseroles. MINI muffins or cut the muffins into 1/4's.

Lunch/Dinner -- homemade hot dishes, most coaches work 5 or 6 nights a week year-round so getting hot homemade dinner food at a meet is really nice. One of my favorites is mexican style crockpot chicken served with tortillas or chips and fixings. Chili, stews, italian baked dishes, BBQ.

It's nice to leave something out during the sessions too b/c if one runs late and then next is starting or there are multiple competition floors at the same time we just have to grab when we can. The worst is when the food is only out for a short time, or it's catered and arrives late and then next session is already started, etc. Also personally not a big fan of lunch meat sandwiches, esp. if they are pre-made on white rolls.

Water or bottled juice for the non-soda drinkers.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

pizza, pizza, pizza! my wife...granola, granola, fruit. guess which one of us looks better...

 

[Chalky]

Some protein choices for breakfast, like broiled sausage, ham slices would be great. Often at meets there are just carbs for breakfast and that energy wears off fast!

I love the mexican self assembly stuff and grilled chicken with veggie sides etc. for lunch and dinner. Healthy stuff please! It's really hard at state meets etc. when we are gone all weekend and food choices are really processed, fatty and sodium filled. I feel start to crave salad! Please offer choices without cheese and label things with nuts for those of us who are allergic! Overall, I prefer offerings with lots of variety that I can pick and choose from rather than cheesy bakes and casseroles, but that's just me.

LOTS of water! Diet coke and diet sprite as well as regular soda.

 

[gralch1]

No lasagna (seems like there is always lasagna because it is easy to make, serve and inexpensive)
I love it when there are sodas or drinks in plastics bottles instead of cans. Thay way I can take it on the floor. (I won't take cans because I worry about spillage)
Prefer stuff that I can "grab and go" for those back to back sessions where there is little time or in between rotations when I need a little snack.

 

[CoachGoofy]

Agreed on the protein for breakfast. Pastries in the morning make me crabby ALL DAY after the sugar crash.

I like fruit, I love when people cook for us (it makes me feel special), vegetables are good...it can be really hard to get enough protein at a meet, I've found, so my general request would be "more protein, fewer quick carbs".

 

[JBS]

Home cooked food and 20 oz. Mountain Dew.

Definite schedule as to when there will be food.

Enough time to eat.

No concession food.

 

[Natasha]

Thanks for the "food for thought!"

 

[BlairBob]

Stuff that is better than the concession stand. I hate when the food is merely a pass to a concession stand. A few years we went to a meet kind of in the sticks outside of Sacramento. However, they had potroast and homemade corn bread. I told the boys from now on we were gonna make that meet a priority. Thinking back on it...bacon. It's pretty awesome when there is a grill going.