Sports RD Snippets

Go for your dreams, but respect the process!

Laura Moretti has incredible insight and advice working with eating disorders in sport! Laura talks all about supervision, rewards/challenges working in this specialized area and resources for eating disorders in sport. 

Laura Moretti Reece completed her Master’s Degree in clinical nutrition New York University. She previously worked as the Primary Nutrition Therapist at Columbus Park Collaborative and Appleman Nutrition in New York City before relocating to Boston in 2015 to join the Female Athlete Program and Sports Medicine/Orthopedics Team at Boston Children's Hospital. As a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, Laura specializes in sports performance-based nutrition as well as treating low energy availability, disordered eating and eating disorders in athletes.

Laura has an extensive amount of experience in consulting and collaborating with Olympic and professional athletes, local colleges and universities, as well as professional sport and dance facilities. She is the consulting dietitian for the Boston Ballet Company and Schools, US Rowing, and is an instructor at the Institute for Rowing Leadership in Boston.

Laura previously served as the Co-Chair of the International Academy of Eating Disorders Sport and Exercise Special Interest Group, as well as the co-chair of the Boston Children’s Hospital Female Athlete Conference. Laura is also the owner of a Boston based group practice, Laura Moretti Nutrition LLC.  She is also a triathlete and a three-time Boston Marathon qualifier and finisher.

Resources discussed in this episode!

IAEDP: Supervisor List

https://iaedp.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=4864

Female Athlete Conference

https://www.childrenshospital.org/centers-and-services/programs/f-_-n/female-athlete-program/female-athlete-conference

Victory Program Conference

https://www.mccallumplace.com/about/events/eating-disorder-in-sport-conference/

Podcast Recommendations

Phit for a Queen

The Tea with 3 RDs

The Mindful Dietitian

Be a Go-Giver!

Jenny Westerkamp has an incredible journey to becoming an entrepreneur and sports dietitian. Jenny will inspire you to be bold, exude confidence and go after your sports rd dreams. Jenny talks all about the dietetic internship, how to stand out when applying, and the importance of going the extra mile to GET MATCHED! Jenny covers tips for the resume and personal statement as well as advice for early dietitians in the job search! 

Jenny Westerkamp, RD, CSSD is the Founder of All Access Dietetics, a company dedicated to supporting the future dietitian community. She launched the company in 2008 when she was a senior in college, and since then her company and team of dietitians have helped thousands of people become dietitians through dietetic internship admissions coaching, RD exam preparation, and job coaching. Their free resources have been used by over 30,000 future dietitians!

In addition to running All Access Dietetics, Jenny is also a professional sports dietitian. She previously worked with the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Cubs (she earned a World Series ring!), and is now in her 4th season as the Team Nutritionist for the Chicago Bulls.

Visit allaccessdietetics.com to learn more about how they can help you turn your dietitian dreams into reality. Follow them on Instagram too, at @allaccessdietetics.

Don't doubt yourself! Katie LeMair has incredible insight and advice on her journey to becoming a sports dietitian. We are talking all about how to stand out when applying to sports nutrition fellowships, the importance of practicing for the interview and the realities of the very first job search.

Katie LeMair is in her third year as an Assistant Sports Dietitian at Kansas State University where she oversees nutrition care for the men’s & women’s basketball, women’s soccer, track & field, cross country, and women’s tennis teams and manages their sports nutrition intern group.

Prior to her time at K-State, Katie was a Gatorade SNIP fellow at the University of Texas in 2017-2018 where she worked extensively with football in addition to men’s and women’s tennis, and softball teams.

Katie completed her Master’s and dietetic internship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2017, and prior to that graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from South Dakota State University in 2015.

It was through her volunteer experiences at Nebraska working with their football, wrestling, and women’s gymnastics teams that Katie first realized her passion for sports nutrition. Her favorite part about being a sports dietitian in her current role is individual nutrition counseling and seeing student athletes transform their habits and relationships with food over their time as a Wildcat.

She and her husband Matt live in the “Little Apple” with their dogs, June & Waylyn and enjoy exploring the outdoors and cheering on the ‘Cats every chance they get!

Reilly Beatty has an incredible journey to becoming a sports dietitian! We are talking all about how to stand out when applying to the dietetic internship, confidence tips as an early RD and how to reach your audience on social media! Reilly will remind you to enjoy the journey and stay patient in the process.

Reilly Beatty is a Registered Dietitian and Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics located in Los Angeles, California. Reilly is currently the Director of Performance Nutrition at UCLA where she oversees sports nutrition operations, a team of dietitians and provides nutrition support for soccer, baseball, softball, gymnastics, waterpolo and golf.

Originally from North Carolina, Reilly attended NC State University where she was a 4 year member of the women’s soccer team and completed her dual Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Science and Human Biology.

After graduating from undergrad in 2014, Reilly moved to the greater Los Angeles area and began to purse her career in sports nutrition. After completing the dual master’s program (Nutrition Science and Exercise Science) from San Diego State University, Reilly went through the UNLV dietetic internship. After completion of the internship and becoming a dietitian in 2017, she began her career as a sports dietitian at California State University, Northridge and later began at UCLA where she is today.

In her free time, Reilly runs a private practice, Reilly Beatty Sports Nutrition LLC,  where she specializes in fueling elite level soccer players worldwide.  You can find her at @reilly.beatty.rd on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Chef RD Alert! If you really want it, you're going to do anything it takes to get there! 

Anthony Zamora is the chef and dietitian for the Utah Jazz of the NBA. Prior to working in the NBA he spent four seasons with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. Anthony strives to go above and beyond every day to serve his athletes, staff, and students at the highest level. Anthony loves to learn and continuously looks for ways to refine his leadership and teaching skills. He is committed to using his platform to give back by helping to grow the sports nutrition profession and develop strong leaders. Anthony became a preceptor for the Wellness Workdays dietetic internship in 2018 and this season he is additionally serving as a mentor for the Gatorade Sports Nutrition Immersion (SNIP) Program. Anthony graduated with his nutrition degree from the University of Tennessee and completed his dietetic internship with Wellness Workdays.

No matter how big or small your job is early on in your career, it will have a huge impact on your life later on! 

Becci Twombley is a veteran sports dietitian with over 10 years of sport nutrition experience, creating sports nutrition programs at UCLA and USC and has consulted in the NHL and WNBA. Becci is a founding Board Member of the CPSDA previously serving on the Board from 2010 – 2014. She is currently the Team Sports Dietitian for the Los Angeles Angels and works with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Becci was hired by LA Angels with a goal to create a nutrition presence which was accomplished by establishing a fresh food supply, educating the athletes with regard to purposeful fueling, creating in-services for equipment staff and ‘clubbies’ and creating signage to direct athletes to their best options when the sports RD was not present to coach them through their fueling.

While at USC Becci was one of 4 sports RD’s and was primarily responsible for Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Men’s and Women’s Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Baseball. Prior to USC, Becci was the first Director of Sports Nutrition at UCLA.  The program quickly evolved to be a comprehensive performance nutrition program to include individualized assessments and meal plans for all athletes and training table for Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball, as well as team education and medical nutrition therapy.

Becci has served as a Nutrition Ambassador for the American Pistachio Growers since 2011, acting as a media spokesperson and creating educational materials to support the APG sponsorship of USA Water Polo. Becci has also served as a consultant sports RD for Cirque du Soleil and the Los Angeles Ballet Company. Becci serves on the board of directors for The Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA).She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA).

Becci graduated from Pepperdine University where she was a 4 year letter winner in Women’s Volleyball and remained to coach while completing her dietetic internship through Cal Poly Pomona.  Becci has 3 children, Piper, Tobi and Tucker.

Stay in touch and follow up! Lauren Link will inspire you to go after your goals and pursue your sports rd dream! Lauren will remind you to stay in touch, build your network and make connections to open up the next door! 

Lauren Link is a Registered Dietitian and Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics. She is the director of sports nutrition at Purdue University, where she played women’s soccer and was part of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament championship team. As an undergrad, she completed a dual degree in Dietetics and in Nutrition, Fitness and Health, and would later complete her Masters from Purdue in Health and Kinesiology.

Lauren began her professional career as a clinical dietitian with St. Vincent's Hospital before returning to her alma mater in 2014 as the program’s first full-time sports dietitian. As the director of sports nutrition at Purdue she oversees all sports nutrition operations and staff, and works directly with football, men’s basketball, soccer and volleyball.

In addition to fueling her athletes for success on the field, she is also passionate about helping athletes successfully navigate the transition into the real world. She has led multiple initiatives to this end, founding the Purdue student-athlete community garden, spearheading a program called BLAST—for Boiler Life After Sport—designed to help address key components of athletes' transition to “normal human” status, and in 2017 published her first book on the subject: The Healthy Former Athlete.

She is a member of AND, SCAN and currently the Vice President for the Collegiate and Professional sports dietitians association (CPSDA).

Follow Lauren on twitter and instagram @LinktoNutrition 

Dare to Lead! Chelsea Burkart is a veteran sports rd that will inspire you to lead with vulnerability and courage. Chelsea will remind you of the power of feedback and the secret to opening up the next door! 

Chelsea Burkart is a Performance Dietitian for U.S. Naval Special Warfare, working to optimize combat readiness, health, and career longevity for Navy SEALs. She has been in the position for close to two years and absolutely loves her job.  Before her time in the U.S. Special Forces setting, Chelsea worked in collegiate athletics for 10 years.

She started her career at the University of Florida as a graduate assistant before being hired into a full-time position with the Gators.  Chelsea then moved on for an opportunity to be the first full-time sports dietitian at the University of Illinois before following her husband, who is a strength coach, to James Madison University where she was able to work as their first full-time sports dietitian as well.  Their family then moved once more, and she had the opportunity to begin the sports nutrition program at Texas State University.

Chelsea was elected as a CPSDA Board member for three terms, during which she played an integral role in developing the Gatorade SNIP program from its inception before serving three years as CPSDA’s President from 2017-2020.

Chelsea’s service model in performance nutrition is to educate and empower athletes and special forces operators with knowledge and habits to optimize performance, recovery and longevity.  Burkart is recognized as a strong and influential leader within the profession and is deeply passionate about mentoring.

Chelsea lives in Virginia with her husband, Aaron, and two awesome and crazy little boys, Kelly and Tyson.

It's a Marathon, not a Sprint! Auburn Weisensale will remind you take your time and find value in every internship opportunity on your path to becoming a Sports RD. 

Auburn Weisensale joined the University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics in September 2016 as Director of Nutrition.

As a registered dietitian, Auburn works with baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, cross-country, gymnastics, lacrosse, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, track and field, volleyball and wrestling teams. Weisensale does team nutrition education as well as one-on-one nutrition counseling. Additional services she provides to the student-athletes include body composition assessments, grocery store tours, cooking demos, supplement education, hydration testing, and weekly samples at the fueling station referred to as Taste it Tuesday.

Before her time with Pitt, Auburn worked as a Sports Nutrition Assistant for the University of Florida. While with the Gators, she assisted the men’s and women’s golf, women’s lacrosse and cross country teams. Auburn also spent time at Indiana University as a Gatorade Sports Nutrition Immersion Program Fellow, working with men’s and women’s tennis, field hockey, and rowing teams. Prior to that, she spent time as an intern for Tara Gidus Nutrition Consulting with the Orlando Magic, University of Central Florida, and run Disney. She also worked as a Sports Nutrition Intern at the University of Virginia where she primarily worked with football.

A 2013 graduate of James Madison University with a Bachelor of Science in dietetics, Auburn was a four-year letter winner on the field hockey team. She was a four-year NFHCA National Academic Squad member and finished fifth in JMU history in freshman game-winning goals. Weisensale completed her dietetic internship/residency program through the Pennsylvania State University and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She went on to pursue her master’s degree in Applied Exercise Science with a concentration in Sports Nutrition from Concordia University Chicago.

Athletic Trainer and Sports Dietitian! 

Katie Knappenberger has unique journey to becoming a Sports RD and has incredible perspective being a Certified Athletic Trainer as well. 

Katie Knappenberger is the Director of Performance Nutrition for Northwestern University Athletics. She joined the Wildcats in June of 2014. Her mission is to empower athletes to use food to fuel athletic and academic success and build a foundation for lifetime of health. Before joining the Wildcats, Katie was an assistant professor and athletic trainer at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, Fla. She earned her bachelor's degree in athletic training from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and her master's degree in nutrition with an emphasis in sports dietetics from the University of Utah. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics and a Certified Athletic Trainer. She’s currently enjoying family dinners and living room dance parties with her husband Ryan and Daughters Riley and Parker.

Katie will remind you to invest time in getting to know people personally, find a work life blend and be authentically you!