We went to a movie at University Theaters and McDonalds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We eat chipotle between games. Also bring cooling towels in coolers. Bananas and pickles. Whatever the kid thinks will taste good, whether that is McDonalds or Jersey Mikes. When they are 16 and nutrition is more important, they will have a handle on it. When they are little, its still comfort food as long as they get decent food to fuel them!

I have no problems with chipotle, but why do you think nutrition is more important at 16?

More important in the sense that Junk Food and Comfort foods should be kept in check and more specific "athlete appropriate" meals are worked in. Ive seen kids eat candy and cookies and popsicles for the whole weekend at these tournaments and perform and develop just fine. But when they are older (16 seems like a good time to get serious) they should really focus on meals with significantly more nutritional benefits to aid in longer term performance. Your'e milage may vary and your kid might need that at 13...PS I'm not a youth nutrition expert, just a guy with a keyboard lol

We have been to a lot of tournaments. Invest in a good cooler, we have a Yeti and love it. I will typically freeze bottles of water on Wednesday. I take 2-3 out Friday afternoon and leave it in the cooler to thaw. By Saturday morning the water will still be half frozen. I use the other fully frozen water bottles as ice packs to keep my other drinks cool.

If we have an early morning game, my son will typically have a banana or some eggs. For lunch we will try to eat with the team (Panera, Ihop, Subway, Wegman). If we don't have a lot of time in between games, Tropical Smoothie is usually a big hit for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been to lots of tournaments. We leave and get Noodles, Panera, etc between games. We just avoid anything too greasy. If there’s no time to leave the field, consider a PBJ sandwich. We always have plenty of non-perishable snacks like bananas, granola bars, etc and plenty of extra water.

+1

Peanut Butter with a bagel is best if less than 2 hours between warm-ups/game times.

As for team dinners. It’s very difficult to coordinate and reserve for a big group especially with crowded large tournaments. Best if you ask the hotel if they have a large lobby area or eating area where you can order pizza, etc. and eat in the hotel.

We’ve been to lots of tournaments. We leave and get Noodles, Panera, etc between games. We just avoid anything too greasy. If there’s no time to leave the field, consider a PBJ sandwich. We always have plenty of non-perishable snacks like bananas, granola bars, etc and plenty of extra water.

We have a lot of tournaments under our belt and we've never had to have dinner at the field or go out for dinner and come back so having a crock out makes no sense to me and I've NEVER seen it. I think the best rule of thumb is for your kid to eat something that he's used to eating. You don't want to experiment the day of a tournament. Also, hydration is super important. Your kid needs some carbs before games and some protein after (and before is good too). For lunch, I think the prior posters hit the nail on the head...sandwiches! Subway, Panera, tropical smoothie, chipotle, are your best friends. Best to eat there and get out of the heat. I don't find dinner the night before to be too important. Some people still have that ancient way of thinking to eat pasta dishes the night before. Although nothing wrong with it, it's no different that anything else. Again, I would just stick to familiar foods. Just remember to hydrate. Liquid IVs, propel packets. Gatorade packets. etc. Lastly, I know these teams like to go out to dinner as a group during these tournaments but I find them to be disasters. I don't know how many times the entire team ended up just sitting on the curb outside a restaurant for hours waiting even with a reservation. Split up!

Tropical Smoothies or Panera bread or alike. I would research it beforehand to see what’s close to the filed and do the online order while you are on the way day.

Can bring lunch and sandwiches and fruits are fine. My kid like to get out of the sun/ field and driving to a quick lunch nearby kills sometime
Off between games and they get to sit in AC room

Subway

Panera Bread or something similar is popular between games.

Anonymous wrote:My guess is this is your first go and they are 8ish. Don't overthink it. Don't bring a crockpot.

Correct-littles. Planned to bring sandwiches and fruit and then yes, overthought to the point of posting here! Thanks for replies.

Anonymous wrote:We eat chipotle between games. Also bring cooling towels in coolers. Bananas and pickles. Whatever the kid thinks will taste good, whether that is McDonalds or Jersey Mikes. When they are 16 and nutrition is more important, they will have a handle on it. When they are little, its still comfort food as long as they get decent food to fuel them!

I have no problems with chipotle, but why do you think nutrition is more important at 16?

We eat chipotle between games. Also bring cooling towels in coolers. Bananas and pickles. Whatever the kid thinks will taste good, whether that is McDonalds or Jersey Mikes. When they are 16 and nutrition is more important, they will have a handle on it. When they are little, its still comfort food as long as they get decent food to fuel them!

My guess is this is your first go and they are 8ish. Don't overthink it. Don't bring a crockpot.

Know either works, but do most just do sandwiches for in between tournament games or try to find food there, when not in home town? If bring food but not sandwiches, any food that worked better than other? Will need to do lunch & dinner there and have good cooler (saw some posts for crockpot in car options, but 80 degree days don’t scream crockpot warmed food to me). Right now planning on subs and fruit be and done, but was curious if other good/better ideas. Thanks