Every year, as my soccer or softball teams roll through tournament play, we stumble through one of those dazed, listless, and dead-legged performances that inspire “the talk.” As I gather the girls together for our discussion on the connection between nutrition and performance, one of the players who’s been with me through multiple seasons will anticipate what’s coming and chime in are you going to tell the hamburger story again?
And yes, I am—because it’s a useful story.
Years ago, the starting left back on my club soccer team was one of our fastest players—a previous coach had nicknamed her “the dream killer” for her ability to materialize out of nowhere and chase down opposing strikers, disrupting what otherwise appeared to be a sure breakaway goal. A tall, mature 13-year-old, she also played tennis and loved to do treadmill and bodyweight workouts on her own.
During a weekend road tournament, we wrapped up our opening game at 11 a.m. and had our next match scheduled just a couple hours later. Not much time to leave the venue and track down lunch in an unfamiliar neighborhood…and the field complex conveniently had rows of concession tents and food trucks set up. Like many athletes, shortly after competing, her appetite spiked: a food truck char-grilling meat, smells amazing. DONE! She was all over a burger and fries.
When our 1:00 p.m. game kicked off, as play on the turf picked up speed…my fast and fit left back looked like she was fording a waist-deep river of pudding. Laboring, just to move veeeeerrrry sloooooow. The first ball that came her way careened off her shin like it was entirely the wrong size and shape. The next skimmed straight past.
My center backs and holding mid began looking frantically at me on the sidelines, as they were having to pick up extra marks in transition who kept blowing right past her. After five minutes, I had to sub her off the field—she was sweating the wrong kind of sweat and her expression was equal parts physical discomfort and genuine confusion.
And that was it for her game.