Student-athletes navigate campus dining challenges

For Lehigh student-athletes, finding time to eat can be challenging. With practices, classes, workouts and competitions filling their schedules, some athletes struggle to find dining options that fit their schedules and nutritional needs.

Some teams, such as men’s wrestling, have nutrition rooms to help reach and maintain calorie goals throughout the day, but not all teams do.

Susan Hurd, campus nutritionist and dietician, works with the Office of Disability Support Services and has a specific role that is dedicated to supporting students with accommodations and meal plan management.

Hurd said she’s worked with universities for close to 30 years and has been interested in what goes on inside the body when people eat and where the nutrients go. She comes from a large Italian family, so food has always been an important part of her life.

She said there are three major resources at Lehigh to help student-athletes monitor their nutrition, and one of the resources is Paige Kulter, a member of the dietitian team who collaborates with Hurd to provide nutrition support for most athletes.

“If a student I’m working with needs sports assistance for their performance, I refer them to her (Kulter),” Hurd said. “If she is working with someone who has food allergies or medical needs while having issues with their meal plans, she refers them to me.”

While balancing their classes and practices along with weightlifting and high-intensity training, Hurd said athletes may feel underfueled or have difficulty finding a location that’s open during their free time.

Hurd said underfueling can often exacerbate a student-athlete’s emotional or mental stress.

Senior running back Luke Yoder said he also had difficulties getting the proper nutrition he needed during his first and second years at Lehigh.

He said he had an unlimited meal plan, and would eat at Broadhead and Rathbone dining halls. Yoder said eating at these locations made it difficult to get his necessary calories throughout the day, having practice from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“It became easier due to the Stabler dining hall on Goodman campus, but early in the day and before practice it was pretty difficult,” Yoder said.

With limited dining options after practices, many student-athletes resort to off-campus options.

“On days where I don’t have any food or am not cooking at home, I spend about $50 out of pocket on those days,” Yoder said.

With the growth of Lehigh athletics, minor changes and refueling options have been implemented to help student-athletes meet their calorie intake.

General Manager and Director of Operations for Lehigh University Dining Services, Christopher Wallace, oversees students’ eating habits and accommodates them on Goodman Campus.

“Menus at Stabler, for instance, are often reviewed by the sports performance team, and they make some adjustments to them so the dietitians get exactly what they need to put in their meals to increase the athletes’ performance,” Wallace said.

Lehigh Football has recently added more food options for the player’s meals.

Yoder said the football team renovated the locker room so players have more snack options than they’ve ever had.

Another resource for student athletes is the ReusePass containers from Broadhead and Rathbone dining halls.

Hurd said she often recommends using the free reusable containers and getting an all-access plan for Lehigh’s dining halls to ensure athletes have no obstacles while trying to get food.

She said when talking to athletes or parents, she also mentions the all access plan for Broadhead and Rathbone, in which you can swipe in at any time so they don’t worry about getting enough calories.

Yoder said having a 24/7 option on Goodman Campus might also be a solution to this problem.

“I think that having an all-day option for student-athletes near the Goodman side of campus would be nice to just get something healthy throughout the day so we aren’t worried about ordering or cooking food,” Yoder said, “because I know other bigger schools have options like that.”