As a high school coach, you owe your athletes a season-ending sports banquet to reward all their hard work. But planning a suitable meal for this special occasion can seem daunting for a coach who's more interested in winning than crafting a three-course meal. Use these guidelines to help you and the banquet hall chefs create a dinner that your players deserve.

Estimating Food Amount

The amount of people attending a sports banquet is usually smaller than the people attending, say, a graduation banquet or a prom dinner. That's because they are often limited to the players, the players' family members, the coaches, and school officials.

As a result, you won't have to create massive meals, but you still need enough food to feed everybody. Start by counting the RSVP cards a few days before the banquet to get a reasonable head count. Now, create meals following this basic proportion guideline:

• Appetizers: 4-6 bites of something small for every hour proceeding the meal.
• Main Dish: 6 ounces of meat or fish and two of the following side dishes: 1.5 ounces of rice or grain, five ounces of potatoes, four ounces of vegetables, two ounces of pasta, or one ounce undressed green salad.
• Dessert: Either one slice of cake, four ounces of pudding, or five ounces of ice cream.

Picking Food

Food for a sports banquet doesn't necessarily have to be "classy" to be effective. In fact, your players will often want something simple and sports related. For example, baseball players may want to munch on sunflower seeds before the meal with hot dogs as a main dish. Football players might want nothing more complicated than some potato chips and chicken wings.

The trickiest part will be finding meals that everyone can enjoy, especially if you have a lot of picky players. The following main dishes will appeal to just about any high school athlete:

• Macaroni and Cheese
• Cheesy Stuffed Meatballs
• Garlic Bread Pizza
• Black Bean Tacos
• Lemon and Parsley Roast Chicken
• Parmesan Encrusted Fish

Planning Meal Around Events

Finding a suitable time to serve your meal can be tricky at a sports banquet. That's because they are often filled with a wide variety of events, including

• Coach Tributes
• Player Speeches
• Parent Presentations
• Slideshows

Try to stagger these events throughout the night to avoid leaving your players hungry. For example, you could give your speech at the beginning of the night and then serve the appetizers. A half hour later, you could schedule the player speeches. Once the players are done talking, serve the main dish.

You should now be just about an hour into the event. During the meal, run the slideshow: this is a great way to show off your player's accomplishments and streamline the evening's activities. After the meal, let the parents present anything they want. When they're done, serve dessert. After dessert, finish the night with the award presentation.

Follow these tips, and your sports banquet should run smoothly. However, if you still feel a little "in over your head," don't be afraid to get help from the banquet hall chefs. They've done this kind of thing before and should be able to help you get it right.