Players' wellness in focus as Storm appoint official nutritionist

An AfN certified, Self holds a BEd (Hons) degree in Physiology and Bio-chemistry and Sports & Exercise Nutrition. “I’m really looking forward to working with and supporting the players with their nutrition in order to help aid their performance and recovery,” said Self, who also runs a Wellington-based Self Nutrition, which offers bespoke personalised nutrition programmes and support to their clients.

“I’ll be doing that by offering advice and support to the team as a whole and also on a one to one basis, depending on the player’s needs. I’ll be looking at their nutrition and energy levels whilst providing them with the knowledge that will help them to perform to the optimum level."

“Nutrition plays a vital role when it comes to performance and it’s about making that link between understanding how fuelling your body can impact on your training and how you perform in a match."

“Nutrition is just a small part of what we do. We’ll be covering the importance of hydration and how that can affect professional athletes. We’ll also be advising the players on the importance of sleep and how much sleep they should be getting. This will include advice on how to enhance and encourage a good night’s sleep in order to ensure that their energy levels are high the following morning.”

Clearly, Storm are focussed on players’ nutrition as this is the second step on that front after their partnership with Nutrition X as the official Sports Nutrition Supplier earlier last week.

Western Storm take on Loughborough Lightning in the second match on the opening day of the WCSL (August 6).