The second assignment will involve an evaluation of the potential nutrition requirements for a chosen sport. This will involve completion of a 1500 word essay report covering aspects of energy demands for the chosen sport, review of the literature on potential macronutrient distributions during training, and selected micronutrient demands. The report should summarise an example meal plan (2 days) providing guidelines for nutritional intake specific to the sport.
At the beginning of semester 1 you will be asked to consider two sports that you are interested in. One of these will be randomly selected by the module leader. Over the course of semester 1, whilst you learn more about macro and micronutrients, you should undertake a basic literature review of the nutritional demands for rugby, which will form the basis of your sports nutrition report. The following marking criteria will be used for this assignment:
Title page/ Introduction (5%) – adhering to the checklist for this assignment (which should be submitted as a front page when you submit to Turnitin, and respective boxes ticked), you should provide a clear title page for your report clearly identifying which sport you are reviewing. You should also provide a brief introduction to the general importance of nutrition for this sport both in terms of training and performance. Suggested word count: 100 words.
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Overview of chosen sport (15%) – in this section, making reference to scientific and textbook literature, you should provide a clear insight into the energy demands of the selected sport in relation to caloric needs. The focus here should be more on training demands than specific performance ie: day to day training demands instead of single match play or competition. Suggested word count: 300 words.
Section 1: Macronutrient distribution (30%) – in this section you should provide a concise account of the macronutrient demands of your sport with reference to pertinent literature (journals, textbooks). You could provide recommendations for general nutritional intake (daily calories, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, hydration) at selected points of the annual training season for your selected sport as example. You should pay particular attention to macronutrient amounts (including units) when presenting recommendations. Suggested word count: 500 words.
Section 2: Micronutrient needs (30%) – this section should comprise a concise evaluation of the importance of 2 selected micronutrients in relation to your sport. You should provide a brief evidence-based rationale for both micronutrients in relation to the training demands of that sport. You should pay particular attention to micronutrient amounts in relation to reference nutrient intakes. Suggested word count: 500 words.
Section 3: Example meal plan (10%) – in this section you should provide an example menu plan for a 2 day period based on your findings from the previous sections. This should include key foods (with amounts) to demonstrate your understanding of nutritional needs pertinent to your selected sport. For both days, provide a simple table underneath each meal plan to demonstrate the total intake of calories, carbohydrates, fats and proteins in relation to your previous recommendations from section 1. Suggest producing this as a table – not included in word count.
Summary (5%) – in this section provide a short summary of the nutritional needs for your selected sport based on your evidence-based findings. This should focus on training demands mainly, but could make reference to performance needs as well. Suggested word count: 100 words.
References/ word count (5%) – you will be graded on both range of literature references (ie: wide variety and current references) and concise writing skills. You should provide a word count for the essay (reference list not included in word count) which should be presented before the reference list.
Your report should be word processed in font arial (size 11), 1.5 spaced, justified margins. It is imperative that personal tense is avoided throughout. All references used must be correctly sourced in the reference list at the end of your work. The maximum word limit for the report is 1500 words (with suggested word counts for each section provided above).
