RamWire: Sinkovitz out to impact how CSU athletes fuel themselves

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – When the position of Colorado State's director of sports nutrition opened up earlier this spring, Julie Sinkovitz didn't hesitate to take on the opportunity.

She began working at CSU in December 2017 as an assistant under Pamela Bartz, but after Bartz's departure, a gap remained. Sinkovitz was asked to fill the role and oversee all 350-plus student-athletes on campus.

"Since Pam left, I now know everybody, which is incredible. I am really happy that I get the opportunity to work with every sport and every athlete here," Sinkovitz said. "It's hard to see everyone all the time, but I'm finding a good balance between seeing most athletes each day."

Although getting around is a challenge for Sinkovitz due to a recent surgery, she is often in the facilities before most university coaches and players. Sinkovitz has an office inside Canvas Stadium, but you'll rarely find her sitting down; instead she prefers to be outside and around each team actively trying to refuel and educate them.

"I want to have a meaningful impact and build relationships with each athlete; that's the most important thing and how you get them to buy in and listen to you," Sinkovitz said. "Some of these athletes, especially the freshman, don't really realize how big of an impact that nutrition has, and it's those little things that set you apart from everyone else."

Her task involves teaching the incoming freshman, as well as the other athletes, on proper nutrition for refueling the body. Whether she is on campus or at home for the day, her role in guiding each athlete isn't limited to the building she works in.

"Education is important, because I can tell each athlete what to eat, but unless they know why they're eating this then they won't do it on their own," she said. "I take the athletes on grocery-store tours, cooking classes each semester, and I'm present at every team meal, so that's the most important time for me to try and educate them."

Sinkovitz understands you have to eat right all the time, not just when you're in the facility or around other athletes. She spends time on grocery tours to teach them the correct foods to be refueling with, while also maintaining the budget the athlete can spend. A new strategy she developed is a cooking class competition where the athletes create healthy meals and compete for the best dish.

Finding the proper balance and eating the right foods is essential for staying at peak performance for practice, competition or even weight training. Sinkovitz is teaching each athlete what they need to eat before and after so they can recover their bodies and continue to compete at a high level.

Making sure each athlete is eating right is a difficult task, which is why she measures everyone's body fat composition each semester using the bod pod. This helps track the athlete's progress towards their goals and lets them know if they should be eating better by their previous body fat composition.

Since it's tough to be with every athlete during the day, Sinkovitz has made the addition of Sammi Gwin as an assistant sports dietician. She comes from the University of Michigan and is looking to help fuel Colorado State's athletic success.

"I'm still in the process of figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of each athlete, but I hit the ground running, and once I know how to tend to each need I know I can create a positive impact here." Gwin said.

Her role is very similar to Sinkovitz, however she will have more access to court sports such as men's and women's basketball, volleyball and tennis. Her task is to help educate the athletes on nutrition and run the fueling station at Moby Arena for those sports, but Sinkovitz wants her to gain experience working with the 100-plus football athletes, as well.

"I'm going to have Sammi helping with football over summer, especially in fall camp and when they're in season so she can gain the experience of working with a large team," Sinkovitz said. "I think it'll be good for her to pop in and out from these different sports and she'll learn quickly."

As an athlete, or parent sending them away, there is comfort in knowing Colorado State is meeting every need for the student-athlete's success in nutrition and athletics. Not every university has a full-time nutritionist, and CSU is one of only five schools currently in the Mountain West to employ one (New Mexico, Wyoming, Air Force, and Fresno State are the four others).

Each athlete has Sinkovitz's number, and they send her pictures of their meals, ask questions about what to be eating and even get meal plans based on their specific needs. She wants everyone to be constantly thinking about the right foods to eat, and it's showing the type of positive impact she's beginning to create at CSU.

"When I was in college I didn't have this until my junior year, and I wish I had it a lot earlier," she said. "Education is one of the most important things, and I want these athletes to know that they can come to me at any time and I'll go to great lengths to help them reach their nutrition goals."

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