1. Protein at every meal

Growing athletes need roughly 0.7–1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. For a 100lb athlete, that's 70–100g of protein daily — which sounds like a lot until you realize one chicken breast is 30g.

The trick isn't more protein, it's distributed protein: some at every meal. Eggs at breakfast. Chicken or turkey at lunch. Fish or beef at dinner. Greek yogurt or cottage cheese as a snack. Skip the protein powders — kids don't need them if they're eating real food at every meal.

2. Carbs are not the enemy (for athletes)

Adult fitness culture has demonized carbs. For youth athletes, that's bad advice. Kids running, jumping, sprinting through 2-hour practices need glycogen — and glycogen comes from carbs.

Rice, pasta, oatmeal, bread, fruit — these are fuel. The right amount depends on training load, but for active youth athletes, carbs should be the largest component of most meals. Refined sugar is the enemy. Whole-food carbs are the engine.

3. Hydration is a performance multiplier

A 2% drop in hydration drops athletic performance by ~10–20%. That's measurable, repeatable, and ignored by 90% of youth athletes.

The standard target: bodyweight in pounds, divided by 2 = ounces of water per day, baseline. Add 16–24oz for every hour of practice. Sports drinks are useful for sessions over 90 minutes; for shorter sessions, water is fine.

Easy diagnostic: if their pee isn't pale yellow, they're not hydrated. Period.

4. The pre-training meal

2–3 hours before training: a real meal with protein, carbs, and a small amount of fat. Think chicken + rice + vegetables. Pasta with meat sauce. A turkey sandwich and an apple.

30–60 minutes before training: small carb snack, no protein/fat (slows digestion). Banana, granola bar, applesauce, toast with honey.

The biggest mistake: training on empty. Kids who skip the pre-practice meal underperform every time, and they don't recover well either.

5. The recovery window

Within 30–60 minutes after training: protein + carbs. Chocolate milk is genuinely one of the best recovery drinks ever invented (16g protein, fast carbs, kids will actually drink it). Greek yogurt with fruit. A peanut butter sandwich.

This window is when the body absorbs nutrients fastest. Skipping it doesn't end the world, but using it consistently accelerates progress noticeably over 8–12 weeks.

6. Sleep is the secret weapon

Technically not nutrition, but it belongs here because it's what makes nutrition work. Youth athletes need 9+ hours of sleep. Not 7. Not 8. Nine. That's when growth hormone peaks, that's when recovery happens, that's when skill consolidation happens in the brain.

An athlete who eats perfectly but sleeps 6 hours will lose to an athlete who eats okay and sleeps 9. Every. Single. Time.

Real talk: this means a 14-year-old who's up at 6am for school needs to be asleep by 9pm. Hard for most families. Worth fighting for if you're serious.