Best Tournament Food Ideas for Athletes

When preparing for a sports tournament, it can be helpful for athletes to have a variety of food ideas that will support their sports nutrition needs throughout the day.

Knowing the right foods and beverages to pack for the tournament can help ensure athletes are fueled to perform at their best through the final game.

Plan Tournament Food in Advance

It is important for athletes to plan ahead for how they will meet their nutrition needs at a full-day sports tournament.

Athletes should not rely on the concession stands to have the right foods available to keep them fueled during the day.

I encourage athletes to plan out their food for the tournament in advance and meal prep any snacks they need for the day. Having the right foods available at the right time is key for sports nutrition success.

Best Tournament Food Ideas: Snacks and Mini Meals

There are two types of tournament snacks I encourage athletes to plan for. Athletes should have quick, high-carb snacks available that they can eat between games when time is limited.

In addition, athletes should pack balanced snacks that can serve as mini-meals when they have a more extended amount of time between games.

Best Tournament Snacks When There is Limited Time Between Events

When athletes have a limited amount of time between tournament games (<1 hour), their focus should be on rehydrating and refueling with carbohydrates.

During activity, athletes use their carbohydrate stores for energy. Thus, refilling these stores between games is important. 

Consuming a high-carb snack between games will provide athletes with a quick source of energy for the next competition. 

Easy, carbohydrate-rich pre-game snacks that athletes can enjoy at a tournament include:

• Banana, grapes, orange wedges, apple
• Applesauce squeeze pouch
• Dried fruit, fruit leather, fruit snacks
• Fruit cup (in natural juices)
• Low-fat granola bar, carbohydrate-based sports bar
• Mini bagels, dry cereal
• Pretzels, pita chips, snack crackers
• Sports drinks, gels, or chews

Tournament Food Ideas: Mini-Meals

In addition to high-carb snacks, athletes should pack food for the tournament that can serve as a mini-meal. Since there can be large gaps of time in a tournament schedule, having mini-meals available can definitely come in handy.

The mini-meal should be high in carbohydrates, contain a moderate amount of protein, and be relatively low in fat and fiber.

Below are a variety of simple ideas for adding protein to a mini-meal at a tournament.

• Beef or turkey jerky
• Cheese sticks, string cheese, sliced cheese
• Greek yogurt, Greek yogurt drinks, cottage cheese
• Deli meat: Turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef
• Individual packets of tuna fish
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Hummus
• Nuts, nut butter

Pro Tip: Individual containers of Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, hummus, and nut butter are great food options to take to a tournament.

Mini-Meal Food Ideas for Tournaments

Putting this all together, here are a variety of mini-meal ideas that athletes can enjoy when they have several hours between games at a tournament.

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana
• Jerky, pretzels, and dried fruit
• Turkey wrap and apple slices
• Greek yogurt, berries, granola
• String cheese, sliced ham, crackers, and orange slices
• Trail mix (made with pretzels, dried fruit, breakfast cereal, nuts)
• Fig bars, hard-boiled eggs, and fruit cup
• Bagel with almond butter
• Hummus, pita chips, grapes
• Tuna pita sandwich, strawberries
• Breakfast bars, almonds, banana

Hydration at Tournaments

In addition to food, it is also important for athletes to plan for how they will meet their hydration needs at a tournament.

Dehydration can negatively impact sports performance and increase an athlete’s risk of heat illness (1). Thus, athletes want to ensure they stay on top of their hydration needs when competing in a tournament.

When athletes sweat, they lose both fluid and electrolytes (mainly sodium). Thus, when focusing on hydration needs for a tournament, it is important that athletes consume both fluid and sodium to replace sweat losses (1).

Individualized Hydration Plan for Athletes

When considering hydration needs for athletes, it is important to understand that athletes vary both in the amount of fluid as well as the amount of electrolytes lost in sweat.

Some athletes are heavy sweaters and lose a lot of fluid during activity, some are salty sweaters and lose a lot of sodium in their sweat, and some are both!

I encourage athletes to work with a sports dietitian nutritionist for assistance with developing an individualized hydration plan.

The sports dietitian nutritionist can provide personalized guidance on hydrating during activity and develop a plan that meets the athlete’s specific needs for competition.

Should Athletes Drink a Sports Drink at Tournaments?

Consuming a sports drink at a tournament can help athletes replace both fluid and electrolyte losses. In addition, drinking a sports drink that contains carbohydrates will provide athletes with an additional source of energy for their working muscles.

When athletes are competing in a hot and humid environment, a sports drink can be particularly beneficial in helping to replace fluid and electrolyte losses.

If athletes prefer to hydrate with water, eating salty snacks, such as pretzels or pita chips, can assist athletes with replacing the sodium lost in their sweat.

In addition, sodium helps to stimulate thirst (1), which can help encourage athletes to rehydrate during the day as well.

Pro Tip: Pack individual packets of sports drink mix to take with you to tournaments. This way you can simply add the mix to a bottle of water and have your sports drink ready-to-go.

Tournament Food Ideas: Reminders for Athletes

When determining what type of snack is best to eat at a tournament, it is important to understand that each athlete is unique in terms of foods and beverages they feel most comfortable eating prior to competition.

I frequently remind athletes that they should not try new foods and beverages on the day of a tournament. Instead, they should practice their fueling plan in advance to learn their individual tolerances.

Athletes should then make sure to pack their favorite foods and drinks to have available with them at the tournament.

Pro Tip: If athletes are traveling out of town for the tournament, make sure to review my blog with travel nutrition tips for athletes, before the trip.

Food Safety Reminders for Tournaments

When packing food to take to a tournament, athletes also need to keep food safety in mind.

It is important for all perishable foods to be held cold (<40°F) throughout the day. This includes items such as Greek yogurt, sliced fruit, deli meat, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs.

Any food item that is held without temperature control for two hours or more should be thrown away. This time frame decreases to 1 hour if the temperature outside exceeds 90 °F (2), which can often occur at baseball, softball, and tennis tournaments.

Athletes definitely don’t want to take the risk of getting a foodborne illness from inappropriately stored food at a tournament.

Pro Tip: Along with food, athletes should make sure to pack hand sanitizer to use if they are unable to wash their hands before eating.

Best Tournament Food Ideas for Athletes

You are now set with a variety of food ideas for athletes to pack for their next sports tournament. Having the right food available can help ensure that athletes are fueled to perform at their best through the final game of the day.

For additional, sports nutrition meal planning tips, make sure to check out my blog on planning the ideal post-game meal.

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About the Author

Mandy Tyler is a Sports Dietitian Nutritionist in the San Antonio, TX area. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a Licensed Athletic Trainer, and is a Certified Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. Mandy has experience working with athletes at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. She believes the key to reaching one’s full potential, both in everyday life and in sports performance, relies on a healthy nutritional foundation.

If you are looking to take your performance to the next level, make sure to check out my new Sports Nutrition Game Day Guide. This downloadable guide is written to help athletes develop an individualized plan to achieve peak performance on game day.