On Wednesday, 1 July Kayla Imrie New Zealand’s Olympic Kayaker and ambassador, came in to speak to the Year 10 Sports Excellence Class.

She passed on key messages about nutrition for sports performance. She provided valuable information on the food groups and how they help in sports performance. For example, protein is needed for muscle recovery and strength, carbohydrates provide glucose for fuel.

The difference between an athlete’s diet and a regular diet is the types of foods you need to fuel your body for the task it needs to do. Kayla referred to her body and her muscles being her “tools for her trade”. If the tools aren’t working properly, the job can’t be done.

This was really helpful for our students as it highlighted not only WHAT foods they should be eating to fuel their bodies, but also WHY it is important to eat the right things. 

As our winter sports season is underway this session was extremely helpful for our students to learn how to manage their workloads both in and out of the classroom using Nutrition as a tool.