by Pete Sprenkle, reprinted with permission from A Youth Baseball Coaches Tool Kit  (with side notes from WebBall's Richard Todd)

I believe strongly that it is beneficial for the team to eat together. Below are outlined recommendations for each meal of the day.

This is the most important meal of the day. If your players do not have a proper breakfast they may not play well all day. If your team travels together and stays at the same motel, it is best to provide the breakfast. Let players know the room number and time for breakfast the night before. Players should arrive for breakfast wearing the proper uniform for the day. A healthy breakfast, simple to serve and quick to eat is:

• Cereal - buy prepackaged boxes such as Kellogg's Variety Pak (ten individual servings) or Kellogg's Cereal Fun Pak (eight servings). Provide 20 ounce plastic cups and plastic spoons to eat the cereal.
• Milk - one half gallon of skim and one half gallon of low fat milk normally provide for the cereal.
• Juice - Most popular are Orange Juice or Pineapple Orange Banana mix. One half gallon of each will be enough. Use 8 ounce plastic cups for the juice.
• Other items - Banana bread, bagels, cut up apples, oranges or bananas are good additions to the breakfast.

One of the chaperones can go out the night before and buy the juice, milk and fruit and keep it cold overnight using a cooler and ice. If a refrigerator is available the ice and cooler are not needed. Plan on taking fifteen minutes to eat breakfast. Bring a couple of trash bags to collect all the empty boxes, cups, fruit, etc. and get them out to the trash dumpster on your way to the field. The hotel/motel will appreciate your keeping the room neat.

Benefits to this plan are that it is quick, inexpensive, healthy and most importantly, you know that all your players are up, awake and wearing the proper uniform.

Whether your team is playing in a Round Robin, a Tournament or a League, if you have a lunch break the best situation for both time and nutrition is to feed the players at the park. If you are fortunate enough to have a portable canopy and fold out table set these up near the field and put out the lunch. Normally, one or two chaperones will purchase the food for lunch in advance and bring it to the park in a couple of coolers.

The Team Lunch Shopping List at http://pmstips.homestead.com/TeamLunch.html provides information you need to buy lunch. Give the list to one of the parents so he/she can head to the store.

There are many benefits to providing lunch at the park.

If the food is out and ready to go, players can be eating five minutes after a game is completed. Thus, if they only have a one game break, they will be able to eat and start digesting their lunch in time to be ready for the next game. Compare this to eating primarily junk food, after standing in a long line at the concession stand, or fast food in a restaurant away from the ball park and possibly not getting back to the field in time to warm up for the next game.

Items contained in the Team Lunch Shopping List are all healthy, easy to digest and attractive to the players. It is important to have food which the players like as it is just as bad for players not to eat as it is to eat the wrong things. If you set up under a canopy, or under a tree, you can get the players out of the sun. If you are playing on a hot sunny day it is important to keep players out of the sun as much as possible when they are not playing.

A side benefit of providing lunch at the field is that there is almost always food left over from lunch which provides for nice snacks during the afternoon. Fruit and juice are always in demand.

If you have plenty of time to eat lunch between games and wish to leave the fields I have found the best choice to be one of the restaurants which make subs. These are generally healthy and there are many choices for the players. Some examples are Blimpies, Quizno’s and Subway.

Finally, whether or not you provide lunch, make sure all the players drink an appropriate amount of water during. Dehydration is a major problem on hot days. The problem is worse at altitude.

After a long day of ball, or sometimes in the middle of it if you have an evening game, it is helpful to keep the team (and parents who want to eat with the team) together for dinner. 

If you are staying in a condo or apartment with cooking and eating facilities it may be less expensive and easier to “eat in.” Pasta is a popular and healthy meal to serve. Add salad, garlic bread and soda/milk and you have a great meal. Pot luck, with each family bringing part of the meal, also works well.

Another approach is to buy the dinner and bring it back to the condo to eat. For example, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, biscuits, soda and milk make a good meal and are available at the deli section of most supermarkets or, did someone mention the Colonel? Food can be warmed up, if necessary, at the condo. Pizza is another popular choice and can be delivered right to the door. A couple of gallons of frozen yogurt or ice cream will also be a hit.

Some will say that desert (sugar, fat, etc.) is a no-no, but your players are getting lots of exercise and burning up plenty of calories so it should not be that big a problem.    

If you decide to eat out, pizza again is a good choice. Pizza, bread sticks, salad and soda will go fast and generally is not an expensive meal. Another good choice is one of the many buffet restaurants. All you can eat with plenty of choices. Everyone gets something they like and no one goes away hungry.  Examples of the options here are Country Buffet, Golden Corral, The Sizzler and Western Sizzler. The names will vary depending on the region of the country in which you are staying.

If you plan to go to a restaurant it is a good idea to call ahead and let them know you are coming. While many restaurants say they do not take reservations, most will set aside an area for a large group if they are notified in advance. Some will even set you up in your own room, offering privacy if you want to have a team meeting after the meal.

Several times earlier I mentioned asking the parents to eat with the team. Some coaches would rather not have parents eat with the team. My preference has always been to invite any parents who wish to do so to eat with the team. I believe it strengthens the total team concept to have parents part of the group. When the parents are part of team functions they tend to be much more informed and supportive of what you, as the coach, are trying to do. Also, it is always good to remember that it is the parents who pay the player fees and raise the money needed to run the team so they, as much as anyone, deserve to be part of the program. The one rule I recommend you apply, without exception, is that parents eating with the team will not have alcohol during the meal.