WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN MY TOURNAMENT BAG — AND WHY EVERY FEMALE ATHLETE NEEDS TO THINK ABOUT THIS

Tournament Nutrition: Why the Windows Between Games Matter

The windows between games are where tournaments are won and lost. Here's how to use them.

You've trained for this. The fitness is there. The squad is ready. And then game two of the day hits and your legs are gone, your head is foggy, and you're running on empty because you grabbed a cereal bar between matches and called it job done.

Tournament football, rugby sevens, netball, hockey, functional fitness events — multi-game days are a completely different nutrition challenge to a single training session. You're not fuelling for one effort. You're fuelling for repeated efforts, with short windows in between, often in summer heat, often on a schedule you can't control. Getting this right is the difference between finishing the day strongly and dragging yourself through the back end of it.

I played football for years, including tournament days exactly like this. The nutrition was always an afterthought. It shouldn't be.

What I Pack and Why

When I'm heading into a tournament day, whether working with athletes or getting ready myself, the bag looks the same. Carbohydrate powder, energy gels, clear whey, creatine, a water bottle, dried fruit, fresh fruit, snack bars, a sandwich or pasta. Everything in it has a job.

Carbohydrate Powder: The Engine

Carbohydrate powder is the engine. Between games you might have 30, 45, maybe 60 minutes before you go again. That is not enough time to sit down and eat a full meal and digest it. A carb powder mixed into your water gives you fast, accessible fuel that tops up glycogen without sitting heavy in your stomach. This is exactly the same logic used in elite sport, replenish what you burned, do it quickly, and make it easy to get in.

Clear Whey and Whey Isolate

Clear whey is in the bag for the same reason it works post-session in the gym: it goes down easy. Juice consistency, no heaviness, quick absorption. After a hard game in summer heat, drinking something thick and creamy is the last thing your body wants. A cold clear whey gives you protein without the barrier of getting it in.

Whey isolate comes into its own when you have a longer break, an evening recovery, or you want to mix it with milk to get both protein and carbohydrates in one go. Dried fruit and fresh fruit are there as quick carbohydrate top-ups between games, easy to eat, no prep needed, and a source of natural sugars that replenish fast.

Creatine for Repeated Efforts

Creatine is non-negotiable on tournament days. The research on creatine for repeated sprint efforts, power output, and cognitive function under fatigue is extensive and consistent. A 5 gram daily dose maintained across the tournament keeps your stores topped up and supports everything from explosive movement to decision-making in the final minutes of a game.

The Female Angle Nobody Talks About Enough

If you're heading into a summer tournament in your luteal phase, the second half of your menstrual cycle, your body is working harder than usual before you even kick off.

Core body temperature is elevated during the luteal phase. In summer heat that effect is compounded, meaning you feel warmer, you fatigue faster, and your perceived effort is higher than it would be at a different point in your cycle. This is not a mindset issue. It is physiology, and it needs to be accounted for.

Your body also burns more calories in the luteal phase, particularly at rest. On a high-demand tournament day, that means your total energy requirement is higher than it would be at any other point in your cycle. Under-fuelling on these days is not just a performance issue, it affects mood, concentration, and recovery. Matching your intake to what your body is actually demanding is how you stay sharp across a full day of competition.

Keep cool water accessible at all times. Use the between-game windows to rehydrate properly, not just sip. And make sure your carbohydrate intake is genuinely sufficient, not token sufficient, but actually matched to the workload and the additional calorie demand your cycle is creating.

Use Every Window

The gap between games is not downtime. It is a recovery and refuelling opportunity and it closes faster than you think. Have your carb drink ready before the final whistle. Get protein in within 30 minutes. Top up fluids consistently. The athletes who do this across a full tournament day arrive at the last game in better shape than the ones who winged it.

The Bottom Line

By Aimee Ellen O'Keeffe

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is an important consideration when choosing sports nutrition products. Athletes should look for products that are manufactured to high standards and, where relevant, tested through recognised third-party programmes such as the Informed Sport Program.