Athletes work to stay healthy during cold and flu season

By Corrine McCallum
Cardinal Staff

As cold and flu season comes around, athletes need to be aware that staying healthy is important to keep competing.

Athletes seem to have an especially hard time staying away from illness. “With spending countless hours with the same people you have to be cautious,” said junior women’s hockey player Mary Debartolo.

According to director of student health services Angel Weisbrod, for an athlete to stay healthy, it is important for one to sleep seven to nine hours a night, eat healthy balanced meals and manage stress with time for relaxation.

Basketball player Benjamin Meyer said he tries to stay healthy during the cold and flu season “by washing my hands and staying away from people that are sick.”

“As an athlete, the number one thing I do to try and prevent getting sick is getting rest. I get to bed at a proper time and wake up at a good time,” DeBartolo said. “Something I do every morning is check the weather. I never want to be underdressed to get sick,” she said.

Even if following all of the healthy regiments, an athlete still has a higher chance of coming down with a cold or the flu, said to Weisbrod. “The difficulty is that many athletes are challenging their bodies physically, but are not giving the body adequate rest and nutrition,” she said.

“As a team, I think we just try to prevent from sharing if someone’s sick. We don’t want to share germs and spread a virus,” said DeBartolo.

“We don’t really do anything as a team, our coach does remind us to wash our hands and to take precautions so we don’t get sick,” said Meyer.

According to Weisbrod, coaches can also help with the prevention of illness as well. She said, “Coaches need to encourage healthy balances in all areas, such as sleep, diet and exercise.”