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Bath Spa University student powers Bath City Women to victory
Friday, 8 March, 2024Bath Spa University Human Nutrition Student Ffion Richards has been applying her skills in the world of sport by teaming up with Bath City Women to help power the first team. As part of her Nutrition in Practice module, Ffion worked to provide specified nutritional information to assist in physical condition and rest. The aim of the module was to encourage practical experience in the field and this unique experience allowed Ffion to develop her skills and take on new challenges.
Speaking about her experience, Ffion said:
“My role with Bath City Women was to provide education on sports and nutrition and team-based dietary analysis and to provide the club with anonymised general feedback on the nutrition status of the team. This opportunity allowed me to introduce nutrition information to the players and help give recommendations for personalised nutrition tailored to the players."
She continued:
"The players that took part kept a seven-day food diary using the Libro app where they weighed their food and liquid intake every day in addition to logging their physical activity expenditure. This enabled me to analyse their diet and daily energy intake and energy expenditure tailored to their daily calorie intake (BMI, weight, height, and age) using Nutritics, a computer program.”
A large part of Ffion’s role was to create tailored nutrition plans that would help the players reach peak physical condition, especially heading towards a matchday. Analysis of food consumption also played a major part, allowing Ffion to make informed decisions regarding dietary improvements.
Ffion said:
“After the players’ personalised analysis, I was able to give recommendations to the players on how to improve their overall nutrition and how to tailor their diet to increase their carbohydrate intake for energy and protein and fats for recovery and muscle gain. Advice such as, different ways of increasing their daily micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and increasing their carbohydrate intake, especially higher carbohydrate intake on game days and training days."
She continued:
"The opportunity also allowed me to introduce the importance of macronutrients for semi-professional athletes focusing more on carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. A main area of focus was on carbohydrates, which are highly important for semi-professional athletes as they serve as a crucial energy source, stored as glycogen in the muscles to ensure sufficient energy for training and performance. Furthermore, this exercise was an important opportunity in highlighting to players the crucial role of carbohydrates to the female body as it plays a key role in balancing hormones and aid in a healthy menstrual cycle. This area of research is gaining interest amongst female sports academia and teams, often highlighted by the players themselves.”
In her final year, Ffion has aspirations of building on her experience with Bath City and pursuing a career in the sports industry:
“Although my opportunity with Bath City FC was short, I hope that the players gained further knowledge on the importance of nutrition on sports performance, and it is an area I have a keen interest in as a nutritionist and hockey player. This opportunity has ignited my passion to pursue a career working with sports teams in the future. It has not only allowed me to enhance my leadership skills but also refine my communication abilities with the players on the team.”
You can learn more about our Human Nutrition course by visiting the webpage and discover more information about our growing partnership with Bath City Football Club.