THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, May 5, 2016

This weekend in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden, the emphasis will be on youth soccer — but also on hydration, and gummy bears.

Around 170 teams — from Idaho, Washington, Montana, Canada, even Wyoming — are expected for the 25th Bill Eisenwinter Hot Shot Tournament, which is scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday on 21 area fields, including a few games scheduled under the lights at the Coeur d’Alene Soccer Complex at Skyway Elementary.

Most of the games involving the younger age groups are scheduled for Hayden Meadows Elementary, and most of the games involving older players are slated for Lake City High, Coeur d’Alene High, Canfield Middle School, North Idaho College and Skyway.

Among the local clubs, the Coeur d’Alene Sting has 31 teams entered, the Academy six teams, the Idaho Thunder five teams and the Lakeland Nighthawks three teams.

A few years ago, the tourney had a little more than 200 teams, a tourney record which looked good on paper, but led to some logistical nightmares, such as trying to get referees from site to site when they had back-to-back games, all the while keeping the tourney on schedule.

“That’s a lot of moving parts there,” said Matt Ruchti, assistant director of coaching for the Sting.

So organizers decided to cut back the size of the tourney a little bit. Ruchti said there is still plenty of room for the local teams, who usually are the first to sign up for the first-come, first-served event.

“In becoming a more efficient tournament, we’ve had to tweak some things here and there,” said Ruchti, who coaches a couple of Sting teams, and also is the longtime girls soccer coach at Lake City High. “Sometimes it’s not in the best interest for the tournament to take on as many teams as possible.”

The Hot Shot tourney is the No. 1 fundraiser for the Sting club. Ruchti said by raising its tourney fees, “we’re going to make more money this year, taking on less teams, than we were taking on more teams,” he said.

NOW, BACK to the hydration and gummy bears.

There have been temperatures in the 80s already this spring — and Saturday’s forecast is for another 80-degree day. In April and May, it’s more likely to be raining and much cooler than that. Local teams training in much warmer temperatures this spring is something coaches have to prepare for, Ruchti said, especially when a tournament is approaching on the weekend.

“Thursday morning is when you start increasing your liquid intake, and concentrating on electrolytes after training,” Ruchti said.

Some things you may have grown up being told weren’t all that healthy for you actually are. Chocolate milk, for example, is a much-desired recovery drink these days, coaches and athletes say (no such luck on Mountain Dew, unfortunately).

Orange slices used to be the snack food of choice at halftime. But now, players are eating jelly beans and gummy bears.

“Parents would come up to me and say, ‘Why are you feeding my kid jelly beans?’” Ruchti said. “Sugars can be very positive in an athlete, to jump-start your system. There’s going to be a time when you crash, but hopefully it’s after the game.”

Ruchti said that philosophy is just taking a page out of what the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams do.

And, especially in the case of the U.S. women’s soccer team, you can’t argue with the results, whether it is because of jelly beans, chocolate milk, or a whole lot of skill — or perhaps a combination of the three.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.