Introducing: Samantha Wade, Director of Sports Nutrition
Boise State Athletics continues to prove its commitment to the health and wellness of its student-athletes with the addition of the department’s first full-time sports dietitian. Samantha Wade, a registered dietitian and graduate of esteemed sports nutrition programs at Penn State and Utah, recently joined the Bronco staff as the Director of Sports Nutrition.
“I am here to serve and support student-athletes from all different aspects of health. Nutrition is something you can control and it plays such a vital role in our overall wellness. It is important for student-athletes to have someone they can rely on in this arena and I am excited to be that person for our athletes.”Samantha Wade, Director of Sports Nutrition
For Wade, education is the foundation of a winning nutritional game plan. As a licensed and experienced dietitian, the education she can provide to student-athletes is a separating factor for Boise State.
“Knowledge is power,” Wade said. “A key aspect of nutrition is to be educated on why you’re choosing certain foods, not just be told what to eat. I want to make sure our athletes know why certain nutrients are appropriate at certain times and that all foods can be part of a healthy diet.”
Over the last decade Boise State Athletics’ nutritional offerings have steadily grown with fueling stations in the department’s weight rooms and partnerships with local suppliers to keep them stocked. With each incremental addition, the need for a dedicated sports dietitian became more and more glaring.
“Once we started providing recovery and pre-training fuel options, we were getting more questions,” said Tyler Whitmer, Director of Sports Performance. “‘What should I be doing here? Why am I struggling with energy levels here?’ We need an expert who can provide the information these athletes need and the science behind the food. Now that we’re providing them food, we need to provide them a why.”
Wade knows this firsthand. She first became interested in sports nutrition as a freshman softball student-athlete at Penn State.
“I had an experience with our sports dietitian at Penn State when I was a freshman that changed everything for me,” Wade said. “I was amazed by how much there was to learn and how many benefits could come from really understanding nutrition.”
She changed her major to nutritional sciences and began working alongside Penn State’s Director of Sports Nutrition, Dr. Kristine Clark – a revered figure in the sports nutrition industry. Wade, a native of Seattle, took on internships at the University of Washington with its burgeoning sports nutrition program throughout her undergraduate career.
After graduating from Penn State in 2017, Wade began working toward her master’s degree at Utah in nutrition and integrative physiology. She earned a spot in Utah’s sports nutrition concentration, a program that admitted just five applicants, and was one of only two graduate students to secure a sports nutrition internship with Utah Athletics.
During her time with the Utes, Wade worked in the student-athlete dining hall helping to create and approve meal plans. In the final year of her graduate studies she managed the nutrition services for men’s lacrosse by conducting consultations; collaborating with the program’s sports performance team, coaches and support staff; coordinating meals and snacks on competition and travel days; evaluating assessments; and developing, implementing and monitoring nutritional care plans.
While at Utah, Wade was a project lead for Be Body Positive, a wellness initiative to promote body acceptance and cultivate self-appreciation that she modified and launched specifically for Utah’s male and female student-athletes.
Prior to joining the Broncos, Wade spent the past year as the Director of Nutrition Services at Dexa Body in Murray, Utah. When Boise State’s opportunity opened, there was no hesitation.
“This has been my dream position,” said Wade, a native of Seattle who always wanted to make her way back to the Northwest and identified Boise State early on in her career as a premier destination. “Once the process started, I really enjoyed the collaboration the department features. Organizational culture was a non-negotiable for me and I appreciate the way Boise State’s team works together to achieve health and wellness for its student-athletes.”
The feeling was mutual. Wade was identified early in the search process as a top candidate because of the unique set of experiences she brought to the table.
“Sam checked all the boxes,” Whitmer said. “We knew we needed someone with a collegiate sport background, either as a former student-athlete or someone who had worked at a high-level sports nutrition program. Sam had that and more. She experienced what it’s like to be a student-athlete and she personally felt the changes when she dialed into nutrition. There is also a body image element to nutrition and Sam brings that experience from her work in a clinical setting.”
Wade has already begun working to establish her programming for the Broncos, educating student-athletes, coaches and staff on not only the food elements of nutrition, but also what it means to be healthy and body positivity.
She has her sights set on services that include team talks; one-on-one consultations; counseling for supplement safety, allergies and eating disorders; cooking classes; meal planning for travel; lab work to identify and combat nutrient deficiencies; and much more.
Alongside Whitmer and other members of the Sports Performance, Health and Wellness staff, Wade will work toward further implementing nutrition as a tool to unlock performance and recovery.
Wade accepting the position not only marked the beginning of a new era for Boise State Sports Performance, Health and Wellness. It was also a culmination of years of work to get to this point.
“This has been something we have wanted for the entire four years I have been here and longer,” Whitmer said. “Jeramiah (Dickey) is a huge part of making this happen. He comes from programs where it was a staple and he knew we needed it.”
The position was also made possible in part by a sports nutrition grant Boise State received from Dairy West. The grant funding allowed Boise State to continue pushing the envelope of what was possible.
With Wade in place, the possibilities are endless, as are the opportunities for Bronco Nation to support what’s next with Boise State sports nutrition. Wade’s wish list includes:
- A student-athlete specific app that allows her to provide targeted recommendations based on location and time constraints.
- A kitchen to prepare a wider variety of food options and offer cooking classes and tutorials for student-athletes.
- Additional groceries and supplies for the existing fueling stations in order to reach more student-athletes.
- A refractometer to measure hydration levels and combat fatigue before it sets in.
- Sweat-rate testing equipment to provide insight to perspiration levels and help prescribe individualized care.
Whitmer and Wade both agree the long-term goal is to develop a training table and student-athlete cafeteria.
“It doesn’t matter how hard you train or how hard you work, if you don’t supplement that with appropriate nutrients, you’re just spinning your wheels,” Whitmer said. “If you want to take your game to the next level, it starts and ends with nutrition.”
Now Boise State student-athletes have a starting place for their nutrition journey. It starts with Samantha Wade.