Rouses JAN-FEB_2017_FINAL-flipbook

the Eat Right issue

Feed Me the Basketball by Mary Beth Romig + photos courtesy The New Orleans Pelicans

C onsider the average size and weight of a player for the New Orleans Pelicans, the city’s National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise.Answer — the average player stands at around six foot, seven inches, on any given day weighing in at 221 pounds. Now throw into the equation the length of the season. In a season that lasts from October through April, teams play 82 games, half at home, half on the road. Add to that pre-season contests and a training camp that kicks off in late September. And if a team is successful, there are playoffs, which can last for another two months given the gods of fortune. There are practices, shoot arounds and pre-game warm-ups. Add to the mix the length of the basketball court, 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. Throw into those statistics the full court presses, the jumps, the quick turnarounds, fast breaks, soaring two-pointers, three-pointers and the occasions, powerful dunk. Those who research such things report that on average an NBA player will run just shy of three miles in a game, with college and high school players covering more territory. These are distances in actual games, not adding to the distance the amount covered in the

many hours of practice and training sessions. It’s a recipe for exhaustion, given the statistics. Saying that it takes an incredible amount of energy is quite the understatement, leading to the question …How does such an athlete fuel his body? Or hers, for that matter. Let’s not forget the Women’s NBA. To succeed as a basketball player requires the athlete to be in tip- top shape, as Jamie Meeks, the staff sports nutritionist for the New Orleans Pelicans and the New Orleans Saints professional football team describes. “Basketball is demanding on a different level, a different plane,” says Meeks. Part of her role with the team is similar to what she does for the New Orleans Saints, simultaneously for most of the time, as the teams share the Metairie, Louisiana, sports campus. The Pelicans occupy a separate practice facility on the campus and have a separate players’ lounge, where they can dine and relax.They are also welcome to enjoy the offerings in the Saints’ dining hall, part of the organization’s sprawling campus, renovated in 2013. There are three dining stations, each stocked with food items designed for health and injury prevention, energy and refueling, and strength and repair. Like the New Orleans Saints, their brothers in

50

MY ROUSES EVERYDAY JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2017