Coaches Cite Team Meals As Essential

University coaches still believe in the advantages of the training table, despite a recent medical panel's report which attacked the theory that athletes need special food.

Last week in the Faculty Club, two doctors fom the School of Public Health assaulted the athlete claim to a need for unique diets. Doctors Jean Mayer and Frederick J. Stare, speaking before an audience of track and swimming team members and coaches, soundly attacked the concept of a training table.

"We see no reason to put the nutrition of the athlete on a different footing from that of any other healthy person," said Dr. Mayer.

University coaches, however, last night refused to discard their traditional faith in the need for daily meals in the Varsity Club. Football Coach John Yovicsin upheld the idea of special meals on three grounds: physiological, social, and psychological. He stressed the necessity of "getting the players down to playing weight" which he felt could not be accomplished by the normal house fare.

Keeps Players Trim

Starches and excess carbohydrates are omitted from the gridder's twice daily meals at the Varsity Club, he pointed out. The small steaks given to players before games are also beneficial, Yovicsin said.

"The boy goes on the field after a nutrious, digestible meal and is able to play at his best," said Yovicsin.

Yovicsin also felt that training meals are a good place for the athletes to meet while the are off the field. "The boys benefit greatly from talking over their mutual problems at the tables. These meals heighten the morale and the mental state of the player," he said.

Swimming Coach Agrees

Swimming coach William Brooks agreed with Yovicsin in stressing the social benefits of the training table. "This is the one time of day when the boys in different Houses get together outside of practice."

The one coach who failed to defend training meals was tennis mentor Jack Barnaby, who noted that, "I always tell my players, 'Know your own capacity.'" He stated that he had made the practice of letting each man eat what he wished, within reason, before a match.