Physiotherapist/Doctor- They deal with diet during illness and injury and during rehabilitation that may occur due to an injury. These sort advice that they would include is percentages of the food types that the person should eat e.g. if you require energy then the physio/doctor will advice your daily diet should have 40% of carbohydrates. Also reducing energy levels and increasing protein intake will rebuild the muscle cells. Illness may mean that certain foods cannot be consumed and therefore the doctor will give alterations to the patients. It is the physiotherapist’s job to monitor an athlete progress during injury, and making sure that the foods he is eating will not affect his recovery. Therefore he needs to give the player strict guidelines on his diet making sure that the player understands the importance of sticking to this diet. It is the physiotherapist’s job to monitor an athlete progress during injury, and making sure that the foods he is eating will not affect his recovery. Therefore he needs to give the player strict guidelines on his diet making sure that the player understands the importance of sticking to this diet. It is important that the physiotherapist gives the correct advice to the player because he needs to try and get the player fit again as quickly as possible without rushing the player.
An example of a physiotherapist and the jobs they have to do is George Hannah who is the club physio at Partick Thistle FC. He joined the club in August 2002 and, and as physiotherapist he is responsible for treating injured players, attending all-matches in case of an on-field injury and for working with the players during the week and making sure they are fit for match days.
Psychologist- this person is needed when the athlete has an eating disorder. The reasons have to be established so that the health of the individual is not affected. Eating disorders occur in endurance athletes and sports where a certain weight has to be maintained. Other athletes consume too many calories which affects performance. The psychologist has to monitor the individual’s needs for ‘feel good’ foods which athletes think improve their performance. Psychologists deal in the way the mind works and motivation, and can specialise in many different areas such as mental health, counselling, forensic and educational psychologist. They help provide mental care for people that have eating disorders. Some players do not eat the right foods that they have been told to eat and therefore struggle to stay within the body weight restrictions so they need to see a psychologist to help with their disorder. It is important that the psychologist can help the players take their minds off the ‘feel good’ foods that satisfy them, other wise the player will end having his contract terminated.
A good example of a psychologist is when Tony Adams had a problem with alcohol addiction, and he even confessed that he played some matches for Arsenal while he was still drunk. This was a serious problem for Adams and it was affecting his football career, so he had to speak with the clubs psychologist to seek mental help on his problem. He managed to get his career back on track however and it was due to the help form the psychologist that helped him.
Coaches- They need to inform nutritionists on the duration and intensities of training performances which will affect the diet. Coaches need to monitor fluid intake during training. Every player will have different diets depending on their target set by the coach e.g. if a player wants to increase his muscle size then he will increase his intake of protein, if a player wants to increase his energy levels to help him last a full training session or match then the coach will advise him to increase his carbohydrate intake. The coach will give tests to the players to see if they are sticking to the strict diets that they have been set e.g. if a player is struggling to keep up in the training sessions, the coach and manager will notice this and give the player a medical or fitness test to see if he has an injury or if he is just unfit. If he hasn’t stuck to his diet then he will obviously put on weight and be slower e.g. if a player eats bread before a game, it does slow you down so players are advised not to eat bread until a few days before a game. It is the coach’s job to monitor the players during training and make sure that their fluid intake at home is that of the right amount. The coach will give a detailed report on each player which will be handed to the manager who will decide whether or not the player is worthy or a place in the starting line-up.
An example of a coach is Nigel Pearson who is at Newcastle United FC. He works along side Glenn Roeder and gives him the information on players such as their weight, whether they have put on weight or not, and if they have stuck to the strict diet that they have been given. He will inform the managers of players that have done well in training and the manager will decide whether or not to select them in the matches.
Manager- all the professionals need to report to the manager so that he gets an overall profile of the athlete. The manager will rely on his assistant manager, coach, psychologist, physiotherapist/doctor and nutritionist to give reports on every player to see how they are doing. These reports will include the player’s diets, whether or not they have stuck to these diets and if they have done well in training. The nutritionist might tell the manager of any tests that they have given to players to monitor their progress in their diets and see if they have put on weight or maintained a balanced diet. It is important that the backroom staff work as a team to get the best out of the players and make sure that they are 100% fit. The manager will want to know why the player has an injury and what caused it, whether they are doing well in training or not and whether they have stayed loyal to the diets that the nutritionist has set them. The information that the manager will receive will ultimately help him make his decision on whether or not to select the player in the next match.
An example of a manager is Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager. When he was appointed the Chelsea manager, he decided to recruit the staff that he used at his previous club FC Porto. He decided to sack most of the Chelsea staff that was already at the club and use the staff that he knew much better at FC Porto. He did this probably because he has worked with these members of staff before and he could trust them to the job well for his new club. The new staff that he recruited might operate in a different way e.g. they might set the players different diets or training schedules that could give players more or less freedom to eat or do what they want.
