Aspire Coach System

Your First 30 Days: A Nutrition Implementation Guide for New Track & Field Coaches

Use the first month to establish assessment, snack access, staff language, and a referral path. The goal is not perfect nutrition coaching. The goal is a repeatable system your team can trust.

Team talk

Open the conversation in 5 minutes

Tell athletes food is part of the program, same as sleep and training.

Keep the message practical: do not turn it into weight talk or diet culture.

Make it clear that showing up empty is a performance problem, not a character flaw.

Week 2

Install the snack system

Start with bananas, peanut butter packets, crackers, bars, and chocolate milk.

Place it near practice flow so athletes can use it before and after training.

Pitch the budget as injury prevention and recovery support, not a luxury item.

Parent note

Send one clear home message

Explain what the program will provide and what families can reinforce at home.

Ask for a carb-plus-protein option before practice and recovery food after.

Link families to Aspire resources instead of improvising one-off answers all season.

when to call

Week 1Assess before you prescribeNotice who fades in warm-up, skips lunch, or looks flat late in practice.Ask three low-drama questions: breakfast, lunch, and pre-practice food.Frame nutrition as performance support, not body commentary.
Week 3-4Align staff and referral languageBrief assistants on what to say, what not to say, and when to escalate concerns. Use the referral chain inside a school for who to tell, and in what order.Use a simple chain: assistant -> head coach -> athletic trainer -> parent -> clinician.Check in directly with under-fueled athletes without trying to manage clinical cases yourself.

Aspire Performance & Nutrition Sources online