By: Brian Howard, Sports Information Director
GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University Department of Athletics announces the opening of "The Maul" on Monday to all of its student-athletes in an effort to properly fuel their bodies and brains.
"We are extremely happy to begin this phase here at Grambling State," Grambling State Director of Athletics Paul A. Bryant said. "The Maul will provide an opportunity for our department to directly address the concerns of our student-athletes and our goal is to provide a variety of foods that assist student-athletes in meeting their daily energy requirements for high level training."
"The Maul" will give the GSU Department of Athletics the opportunity to directly address the most commonly neglected and the most critical fueling opportunities of the day — before and after a workout. By opening the fueling station weekly and placing it in the Assembly Center, athletes can easily grab snacks to have on-hand throughout the week to consume on their way to and from practice and class at no cost to them.
Instead of arriving to practice focused and primed for the work ahead, the student-athletes often arrive unprepared and depleted. A string of exhausting practices combined with inadequate fueling can quickly cause metabolic imbalances. For many student-athletes, the result is a physiological drive towards compulsive tendencies, stress, and binge eating at night.
"I think this is a big jump in our athletic department," Marshawn Taylor, a senior baseball player, said. "Big schools like the SEC and the ACC have these tools, so I am excited that we are making this jump."
While many NCAA Division I athletics programs offer fueling stations and snacking opportunities for their athletes 24/7, Grambling State recognizes that this would be an extreme financial burden to the athletics department. The Grambling State Department of Athletics will offer student-athletes the opportunity to choose 10 items on a weekly basis that they can have on-hand throughout the week. This project will be organized through the Office of Compliance, in conjunction with the Strength and Conditioning staff.
Student-athletes will have the opportunity to select 10 items from the following Fueling Stations:
Carbohydrates: granola bars, energy bars, pretzels, crackers, nutrition/breakfast bars, fresh fruit (bananas, apples, oranges), dried fruit, applesauce.
Protein: lean jerky, hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, Go-gurt, peanut butter packets, nuts, sunflower seeds, string cheese, skim milk, chocolate milk, Muscle Milk Collegiate, EAS Whey, BioPro Whey.
Combo snacks: Peanut butter crackers, trail mix, sandwiches, carrots & hummus/ranch dressing.
Student-athletes will present their identification cards and be provided a list of what items are available that week. They will select 10 items from the list and the items will be packaged for the student-athletes to take.
The tentatively weekly schedule for "The Maul" will be Mondays from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
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