TCU student athletes now have an upgrade on their on-campus dining options.

Training Table is a new dining option located in the athletic facilities that provides student athletes with an alternative spot to eat on campus.

Athletes will have 50 swipes per semester at this location, enabling them with the opportunity of one meal a day, Sunday through Thursday, each week of the semester.

TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said other dining facilities on campus are good, but when the athletes go to eat there, there are too many options to choose from.

“I wanted to have one meal where we knew what they [the athletes] were getting,” Del Conte said.

Del Conte said many college athletic programs around the country have similar dining options as Training Table, so the plan was not an innovation, but more of an adaptation.

“It’s not something new, it’s something we just engaged in this year,” Del Conte said.

Training Table provides athletes with many healthy choices that meet the needs of any specific diet. The buffet-style selection is equipped with a color-coded system of tongs that symbolize which foods go together as well as which foods will help them lose, gain or maintain weight.

Del Conte said the new program has had positive reviews, but there is still work to be done.

“I think the student athletes really love it,” he said. “I go down there every night, they like the food, they like what we’re trying to do. But like with anything else, change is going to be difficult.”

Del Conte said that his job is not only helping athletes in collegiate competition but also helping the athletic department’s vision, the difference they can play in the athletes’ lives off the field.

“One of my duties as the athletic director is to give the student athletes all the tools necessary to be successful,” Del Conte said. “One of the things we were missing was the dietary component, now we have it.”