Bonci informs ULV athletes about nutrition

by Nila Priyambodo
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne Athletic Department held a series of nutrition presentations called “NCAA Champs/Life Skills Program” for the athletes and coaching staff on March 3.

A grant from the NCAA was given to fund the hour-long presentations that featured guest speaker Leslie Bonci, the director of sports medicine and the nutrition program for the University of Pittsburgh Physicians.

“It’s a neat thing for us to have a nutritionalist of her magnitude,” said Will Darity, sports information director and assistant track coach. “She has worked with professional athletes, so we are very excited about having her here.”

The series of four presentations included were for female athletes, male athletes, coaching staff and the student body with a question and answer period at the end of each presentation.

“The message I wanted to get out there is that nutrition is part of performance and that it is all about eating,” Bonci said. “It may sound incredibly simple, but in reality it is not always done.”

“Not many schools have resources to this information, so these presentations are beneficial for the school,” she said. “They are hungry for this information.”

Separate presentations for female and male athletes were held in the morning in the Student Resource Center classroom.

The seminars focused on goal setting, fueling for athletic performance, hydration, tips for weight management, timing and frequency of eating episodes, supplements, losing body fat and increasing muscle mass, energy requirements and myths about dieting.

“I learned a lot,” said junior liberal studies major and football linebacker Raymond Delgadillo, who attended the presentation for male athletes. “We were always told to drink protein drinks, but today I learned it was pointless.”

Rick Sullivan, junior business major and football running back, enjoyed the presentation directed towards male athletes, but recalled one minor problem when it came to the eating habits of college students.

“It was informative, but it was kind of bias,” Sullivan said. “She didn’t have the college student’s point of view. We don’t have the resources and availability to always eat healthy foods. We can’t always get the chance to go to the grocery stores.”

A seminar for the coaching staff was given in the afternoon, which included discussions on the role of nutrition on performance, preventing dehydration and over hydration, dealing with weight issues in athletes and myths about dieting.

“It was extremely educational and informative,” said Gabe Duran, assistant sports information director and assistant men’s basketball coach, who attended the coaching staff presentation. “She got all the extensive information in the limited amount of time she had.”

The final presentation at 7 p.m. in the La Fetra Auditorium was an open forum for the student body that discussed eating survival, weight issues and disordered eating and body image.

“It’s good to have more things like this at La Verne because when you live in a dorm on campus, you don’t really know what to eat,” said sophomore athletic training major Stephanie Dreyer, who attended the open forum. “I learned the different nutritional aspects.”

The series of presentations had an overall informative impact on the athletes and coaching staff.

“The presentation by Leslie Bonci was an excellent opportunity for the athletes at La Verne to attend an educationally enriching program by an extremely interesting and knowledgeable professional with a diverse background of experiences,” said Mark Potocki, assistant football coach.

For two weeks, Bonci will be in the West Coast traveling to eight different schools in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and speaking with athletes and coaches about these nutrition issues.

“I get to talk to coaches and implement a little bit of what I know,” Bonci said. “And hopefully they can implement it on the athletes.”