By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – One of the biggest missions for Tennessee Tech Director of Sports Nutrition Anthony Paradis is to make sure the Golden Eagles are properly fueled for competition.
Now, through one of five NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grants, Paradis and his team will be able to improve the habits of Tech student-athletes as well as increase their knowledge of proper nutrition.
With the help of Samantha Hutson, Ph.D., Holly Anthony, Ph.D., and Bedelia Russell, Ph.D., the goal is simple. From the study abstract: "In order to optimize performance, recovery and well-being in our student-athletes, we must take an integrated and intentional approach to supporting their daily nutritional habits and mental health practices."
"I'm grateful for this opportunity and the support I've received from athletics and academics," Paradis said. "This grant is another step in improving our sports nutrition and wellness program for our student-athletes. We've already seen some great outcomes from our pilot test and I'm excited for the future."
Mark Wilson, Tennessee Tech Director of Athletics, said, "We are honored to have the NCAA provide grant money to Anthony and his team for this project. We know how important proper nutrition is to the success of our student-athletes, and to be able to share that knowledge and build healthy habits for all of our teams is worth its weight in gold. The information to be gained from this endeavor can help shape our programs for years to come."
An online course – Sports Nutrition and Wellness – was created to help achieve the goal. Through the grant, $10,000 will be allocated for a $100 bonus to each team per student-athlete that completes the course – and limited to the first 100 student-athletes – to be used for snacks and nutrition support. An additional $1,000 will be awarded to the highest GPA for the top men's and women's team. The remaining $8,000 will go toward cost of materials, administration and dissemination.
The abstract continues: "Incorporating ten training modules and a rigorous evaluation component, the purpose of this program is to combine the topics of nutrition and mental wellness into an online class series called 'Food For Thought (FFT) for Student-Athletes' that will teach student-athletes best practices in wellness and nutrition and offer a wide range of resources that will be accessible to other universities interested in adopting it."
An NCAA panel reviewed the 66 proposals and selected awardees representing all three NCAA divisions, as well as across the spectrum of university roles from administrators, coaches, scholars, student-athletes, mental health clinicians, student affairs professionals and a faculty athletics representative.
The other four grant recipients included Marquette (online application to support peer health educators; Lee Za Ong, Ph.D., and Praveen Madiraju, Ph.D.), North Dakota State (bystander training to reduce LGBTQ prejudice in sport; Christi McGeorge, Ph.D., Russell Toomey, Ph.D. [Arizona]), Charlotte (skills-based podcast program for coping with mental health challenges; Alicia A. Dahl, Ph. D., and Abby Coffey), and Wisconsin (data-driven "return to learn" support for concussed athletes; Traci Snedden, Ph.D., and M. Alison Brooks, M.D.).
The five teams will present their findings in January 2021 at the NCAA Convention in Washington.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
