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Rise Nutrition Board-certified sports dietitian (MS, RD, CSSD). I help high school, club, and college athletes fuel for performance, recovery, and the next level.

Soccer specialists and every competitive sport. Evidence-based coaching. No fads, no calorie obsession.

10/15/2026

Ate your pregame meal for a full 90 and played five? That meal still matters.

In many teams, the players with the fewest minutes usually get the tougher training session the next day, while the ones who played about 60 minutes or more recover. The way I see it, the fuel you took in on game day comes in handy sooner than you’d think. How your team handles the day after may be different, so pay attention to it.

What I’d do that night:
- Eat a normal, balanced dinner. Pasta or rice, a protein, some vegetables, something to drink.
- Skip the urge to cut back because you feel like you “didn’t earn it.”

The mistake I see a lot is eating less the next game day because last time felt wasted. That’s how you end up underfueled on the day your number does get called.

Same goes for a backup hockey goalie who dressed and never went in, or a volleyball sub who never rotated on. Same plan for them: a normal dinner, no cutting back.

10/12/2026

Is it ever too late in a soccer game to grab something before you go on? Nope!

Your coach turns around, says you’re going in, and you’ve got maybe a minute. It doesn’t matter if it’s the 30th minute or the 85th. A few sips of a sports drink can still top you off with some fluid and carbs before you step on, and a couple of chews add carbs.

The trick is knowing what you’re grabbing before you need it. Before kickoff, take ten seconds to see what the athletic trainer set out, so you’re not digging through a bag when your number’s called.

What tends to work in that minute:
- A sports drink, since a few gulps cover fluid, carbs and electrolytes at once
- A couple of energy chews
- A gel, as long as you’ve used that kind in practice

Anything you’d have to chew for a while, or haven’t tried before, can wait. No new foods on game days!

Playing with free subs? Every trip back to the bench is another chance to sip. Same goes for any sport with a bench, from a hockey line change to a basketball timeout.

Save this for your next game day.

10/10/2026

Sitting on the bench during a soccer game can still ask a lot of your body.

In a case study at one English pro club, substitutes warmed up about three separate times during a match before they ever went on. That club only tracked movement, so the fueling side here is my call, but every “get loose, you might be going in” is your body getting ready to play.

High school and most US club soccer use free substitution, so it looks different. If you’re in and out all game, you’re stopping and starting over and over. The upside is more chances to eat and drink between stints.

Either way, I have bench players fuel for the work the day might ask of them:
- The same pregame meal the starters eat
- Steady sips of water or a sports drink while you wait
- Something quick before you go on, like a few chews or half a banana
- A full dinner if you played a lot, a normal balanced one if you didn’t

Hockey players between shifts and basketball players checking in and out deal with the same stop-start load.

If you’re fading late in the minutes you do get, even with a full week of training behind you, that’s exactly what my free 15-minute Discovery Call walks through. We discus where the challenges may be and how we could work together to address it. Link’s in my bio.

10/09/2026

Frustrated about your playing time? Good. That usually means you care and you believe you belong out there.

The player I worry about is the one who looks like they’ve stopped caring. It shows the second they step on the field.

When your number gets called, even for five minutes, a coach will notice:
- Full effort from your first touch
- Whether you’re talking to your teammates
- Body language that says you want more minutes

Five minutes of sulking gets noticed too, and it makes it harder for a coach to send you back out.

What staying ready looks like while you wait:
- Watch the player in your position and the matchup you’d walk into
- Stay loose, so your first sprint isn’t a shock to your legs
- Keep sipping water or a sports drink
- Eat your pregame meal like you’re starting, every time

It plays out the same way on a basketball bench, a lacrosse sideline or a volleyball rotation.

Send this to a teammate who’s fighting for minutes right now.

10/08/2026

That cinder block feeling when your number gets called usually comes from your pregame meal, and it would have shown up whether you started or came on in the 60th minute.

A few things tend to sit heavy before a game:
- Fried food and fast food
- A big salad or anything loaded with fiber
- Something you’ve never eaten before a game

What tends to settle well is a meal built around pasta, rice, potatoes or bread, eaten about three to four hours before kickoff, with a normal amount of protein. All things you’ve eaten for years! Anything closer to the game stays smaller and still familiar.

If you think you won’t play, eat the same meal anyway. Your number can get called at any minute, and you want fuel in the tank when it does.

Try any change at practice first to see how you respond. I’d much rather you have a rough practice than a rough game.

Everybody handles food a little differently, so pay attention to your own pattern. Any athlete who waits until competition before testing something runs into this issue, from a wrestler between matches to a swimmer between events.

Follow for more on fueling the game days you can’t predict.

10/07/2026

Coming off the bench in soccer means fresh legs walking into a game that’s already moving at full speed.

Researchers tracking elite under-17 male players found substitutes covered more high-speed running per minute than the starters. What this means is that while there is less time on the field, it’s even more intense meaning you need to be ready!

What I tell subs: get ready while you’re still on the bench. When the coach tells you to get loose, two jobs happen together.

Warm up like it counts. A short routine that gets your legs moving at game speed, so you hit your first sprint already loose.

Get something quick in. Carbs and fluid, something light:
- A sports drink, which covers fluid, carbohydrate and electrolytes in a few sips. It’s usually the best thing on the sideline table.
- A couple of energy chews.
- A gel, if you’ve already used one in practice.

Stick to what you’ve tried in training. No new foods on game days!

And if you’re sitting for a long stretch, keep sipping. Small amounts, steady, so you walk on as hydrated as you arrived.

Same idea for a basketball player checking in, or a relief pitcher getting the call from the bullpen.

Save this for the next time your number’s about to be called.

10/06/2026

Skipping your pregame meal because you don’t expect to play is a gamble, and getting that wrong could cost you AND the team.

In the elite environments I work in, a substitute often gets a very short warning. A coach turns around, tells you to get ready, and you’re on. There’s no time for a meal at that point! The meal from hours earlier is what set the base for what you play on. As you head onto the field, a few sips of a sports drink simply tops it off.

Here’s how I set up match day with the players I work with, as if they’re starting:
- The full meal 3 to 4 hours before kickoff. About half the plate is starch: rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, a banana. A normal portion of protein too, so you aren’t hungry again by warm-ups.
- A small top-off 60 to 90 minutes out, usually around when you get to the field. A sports drink or something light.

An 8 AM game? The night before becomes your pregame meal, and a small breakfast tops it off.
And if you never get in, that’s fine. Still have a normal, balanced dinner and you’re set for tomorrow’s training.

Same idea for the sixth man in basketball, the third line in hockey, or the swimmer who might get added to a relay. Whatever minutes come, be ready for them.

Send this to the teammate who eats light whenever they think they’re on the bench.

10/05/2026

I'd love to report that athletes are sleeping more these days...but the numbers won't let me.

A national CDC survey found most US high school students are still getting less than 8 hours a night. The recommendation for teens is 8-10.

In my experience that gap really shows up on the field. You're asking your body to recover from training, get through a full school day and be ready for the next session, and a lot of that recovery happens while you're asleep. If sleep came in a bottle, every athlete would be buying it.

Eight to ten hours can sound like a lot when you're starting from six, so build toward it:
- Move lights-out 15 minutes earlier this week and hold it for seven nights.
- Charge your phone across the room.
- Keep your wake-up time close to the same on weekends.

What I see once the extra sleep sticks: school feels easier, homework goes quicker, and getting to bed on time stops being a fight. That snowball effect in this situation is worth starting.

Send this to the teammate who's always running on five hours.

10/02/2026

Two questions settle most sick-day decisions: how bad are the symptoms, and what does today actually ask of you?

Start with the first one. Chest pain or tightness, trouble breathing, a racing heartbeat or feeling like you might faint all mean no training or game today and a call to your doctor. That part isn't a judgment call.

A head cold is different. When researchers gave young adults a cold virus on purpose (I want to know how they convinced them to sign up for that one!), the ones who kept training at a moderate level didn't get more sick or stay sick longer. What to expect is a flatter day. Being sick takes a bite out of your breathing and your performance, so a stuffy nose can make a normal session feel a lot harder.

Then the second question. A light technical session is a different ask than a full-speed match, and a preseason scrimmage is a different ask than a playoff game. Match the effort to how you feel, keep eating and drinking like normal, and be straight with your coach about where you're at.

Save this for the next morning you wake up sick before a game.

10/01/2026

Circle your next big date on the calendar, the tryout or showcase or tournament that matters most, and count back three weeks.

For a lot of athletes, that's when the season's pattern kicks in: great in week one, a little flat in week two, sick by week three. If that's happened to you more than once, it's worth planning around so it doesn't land on the one weekend you can't move.

What I see most often is eating and sleep slipping first, when the schedule gets packed or the nerves kick in. A skipped breakfast, a few later nights, a lighter lunch because your stomach's in knots.

In the two weeks before your big date:
- Keep breakfast in, even if it's small. Toast with peanut butter, yogurt, a banana.
- Pack a snack for the gap between the end of school and the start of practice.
- Hold your normal bedtime as closely as you can, even on the nights you're wired.

If that week-three pattern sounds familiar and you've got a tryout, showcase or tournament coming up, send me a message, or grab the free 15-minute Discovery Call, where we can discuss how we can plan out your eating and sleep for the weeks leading into it. Link's in my bio.

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409 Orangepoint Dr
Lewis Center, OH
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