National Youth Sports Safety Month Q & A with Bill Ingemi

April is National Youth Sports Safety Month and USTA Missouri writer Josh Sellmeyer spoke with Bill Ingemi — longtime Springfield Lasers head athletic trainer — to get some tips and advice for youth players heading into the busy spring and summer months of tennis. Highlights from that conversation appear below. 

Ingemi has served as the Lasers’ athletic trainer all 25 seasons the World Team Tennis (WTT) franchise has competed in Springfield. Additionally, Ingemi is the health & wellness coordinator for the Springfield Parks Department. He has been with the parks department for nearly 20 years and has worked as a licensed and certified athletic trainer for 36 years.

Paul Nahon, Springfield Lasers general manager, had this to say of Ingemi’s contributions to the organization:

“Bill has been instrumental in keeping players healthy during the season from a physio as well as nutritional approach. Without Bill, our ability to win back-to-back championships would have been questionable.”

Q&A

Josh Sellmeyer: What advice and tips would you give youth tennis players from a nutritional standpoint as they prepare for their events and tournaments?

Bill Ingemi: Establishing a solid baseline — whether we’re talking nutrition, activity or training — is really important, especially with the youth. They’re in such a metamorphosis of growth and development. You have all these processes that are almost in overdrive just because of their age and maturation level. For them to be able to establish a really solid foundation on whatever they’re doing is huge.

If it’s the nutritional side, the ones I see are able to withstand the rigors of a lot of tennis and environmental issues are those more solidly grounded with nutritional practices. Staying hydrated, obviously. I like the 80/20 rule. I recommend 80 percent of everything they eat should be real food in its natural state. The other 20 percent is if they have foods they like that maybe aren’t the best for them, hopefully keep that in the 20 percent lane.

Youth tend to utilize fat a little bit more efficiently. I recommend the younger kids try to get a little more healthy fat — avocados, nuts, seeds, clean dairy. Parents are pushing carbs, which may be a way youth don’t necessarily optimize their ability to perform. Develop a good, solid foundation the youth are doing all the time rather than ebbing and flowing certain times of the year.

JS: The day before or the day of a tournament — when there is a ton of tennis and maybe it’s hot outside — what are some good practices for players to take?

BI: The stressors of event day really warrant some kind of routine, maybe certain foods. It may not necessarily be what you would consider a solid regimen of very specific foods. But foods players tolerate well and are comfortable with. Ones that won’t have a detrimental effect. Nothing with caffeine or anything like that.

I’ve seen it in all levels of athletics — gameday is a time where the athlete needs to have as much control as possible over what is happening. That might mean they’re comfortable eating a hot dog. If you’re comfortable eating a hot dog, let’s get you a good hot dog and not something junky.

Sticking with foods that are a bit easier on the gut. Maybe a whey protein supplement, a shake or smoothie. If they have issues or get nervous and don’t like to eat before competition, they can supplement with shakes or smoothies. They’re easier on the gut but still have those nutritional qualities.

I’m an advocate of hydrating with water primarily on match days. If there’s heat involved, certainly supplementing with an electrolyte drink. I prefer ones that use more natural product: less/no food dyes or artificial sweeteners. Stay away from that. For tennis, it’s more about those days where they are playing two, three or four matches a day.  Space things out almost like the marathoners do. They try to load up as much as they can and periodically refuel throughout the event. It’s very much the same with tennis. Establish a routine where players refuel but are not necessarily filling their guts with a lot of material. That’s where the drinks, shakes and supplements can come in.