Image via WCU.
West Chester University (WCU) student-athletes from the women’s lacrosse team are pictured in the food lab enjoying a healthy cooking demonstration recently presented by the Student-Athlete Sports Nutrition Training and Fueling Program.
The heat will be on at West Chester University’s (WCU) high-tech food lab when six teams of WCU athletes will be served a mystery box of ingredients and challenged to develop their culinary skills while preparing a delicious meal in just 30 minutes. A total of 24 student athletes will compete, with the rule of thumb being that all creations must be nutritious.
A special panel of VIP judges will determine the winning dish based on creativity, taste and presentation. Coordinated by the Student-Athlete Success Program (SAS) and the Sports Nutrition Education and Nutrition Program, 1St The Chopped: Get Your Cooking On competition will take place on March 4 at 6:00 p.m. in the Sciences & Engineering Center and The Commons, Food Lab (room #201), located at 155 University Avenue. The event, based on the popular Food Networks reality television series featuring dueling chefs, is open to the public free of charge.
In addition to preparing a winning meal, “Chopped: Get Your Cooking On” is designed to teach the university’s student-athletes that a healthy, balanced diet is essential for excellence – on the field and in the classroom.
“Each semester, those in my Sports Nutrition and Nutrition Student-Athlete Training Program do several cooking demonstrations for our varsity athletes, and we decided to take it up a notch this year with “Sliced-like” competition,” said nutrition department chair and nutrition professor Christine Karpinski.
It’s easy to see why the program is so popular with WCU’s student-athletes. It includes everything they need to be successful, even “refueling stations.” Each semester, the “fueling stations” are staffed by sports nutritionists who distribute healthy snacks to more than 400 student-athletes at practices, games and/or in the locker room. Gas stations provide healthy snacks at key times throughout the day.
A typical gas station might include fruits, vegetables, trail mix, whole grain chips, pretzels, popcorn, cheese sticks, yogurt, and chocolate milk. Graduate assistants manage the gas stations and provide experiential opportunities for students and dietary interns to work with the student-athletes.
While it would cost nearly $75,000 to create a more centralized gas station for all student-athletes during the season, the student-athlete sports nutrition training and fueling program depends on generous donations to provide the healthy snacks that students depend on -athletes of the university. The much-needed program thanks its longtime partners: Aramark, Enterprise Holdings, First Bank and the WCU Alumni Association.
From team nutrition talks to grocery store tours to Bod Pod testing/interpretation to one-on-one nutrition coaching and everything in between, the University’s Sports Nutrition Program provides an evidence-based, first-rate approach to guide student-athletes of WCU in making everyday health decisions.
“The university’s sports nutrition program works proactively and creatively with WCU student-athletes throughout the year to help them make healthy food choices that will ultimately fuel them properly for their sport and their lives,” said Karpinski .
Learn about West Chester University (WCU), the largest member of Pennsylvania’s public system of higher education, and its comprehensive public institution offering a diverse range of more than 180 academic opportunities in 40 fields of study at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.
