With the spring sport season just around the corner, it means that it’s also time to talk about the ever – popular sports snack schedule and I have to admit that I’ve never been a big fan of the whole-team, after-sport snack thing.
Spring sports mean snack time!
Since we can’t bring homemade food to events anymore, this means that parents are left to shopping the inner aisles of the grocery store, looking for a box, package or bag that leads them to believe that a healthy snack is inside. I’m not a doctor or nutritionist but I am pretty darn confident kids that do not need, nor should they have, chips, cookies or donuts (we’ve all seen these on the field) after running around a field for an hour. What happened to snacks that are made from real food? When I run for an hour in a race, I usually see orange wedges or bananas at the finish line. And lots of water.
The perfect snack after sports: Happy Oranges
courtesy of Another Mother Runner
Why not kids? Are we afraid that they may not like them? That they might not like the healthy-snack-providing-parent or family? That their parents might think we’re hippies? The kids probably already have water on hand, right? What better after sports snacks for kids exist beyond fresh fruit like orange and apple slices?
How do you feel about the sport snack schedule? Do you welcome the opportunity to share snack responsibility or would you rather do without?
Would you consider sending a note like this to other team parents? I’m curious what others think about this tactic. Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below!
6 Comments
Your league prohibits homemade snacks? Hmm. We’ve never had an issue with that. What’s the justification? I understand allergies, but smart home cooks can cook with allergy producing ingredients.
I actually can’t think of a place that I can take homemade goods. School, sporting events, birthday locations, etc all prohibit anything not made in a commercial kitchen. Maybe it’s an Oregon thing (which is crazy).
Oh, sports snacks make me a little crazy at times. I’ve been known to take clementines or sliced apples.
Good for you Jennifer!
I am finding that daycare centers have the same rule about no homemade treats for birthdays, etc. They usually have an exception for uncut fruits and vegetables though, so you should be able to send whole apples, pears, orange, bananas or berries without violating the rule.
Holly – We too haven’t seen push back to bringing fresh fruit, but I also haven’t seen parents bring it. Sadly, food mfrs make boxed/bagged snacks so much more convenient compared to washing, cutting, peeling and bagging up cut fruit and veggies.