What should have been a highlight of the season turned into a public health nightmare for the University of California, Berkeley field hockey team. On the eve of their ACC Championship quarterfinal match in Louisville, Kentucky, a sudden and violent outbreak of food poisoning sent twelve players and one team official to the hospital, leaving the Golden Bears barely able to field a team for competition.
Head coach Shellie Onstead described the situation as “like something out of a movie.” Players became violently ill overnight, some suffering from extreme nausea and dehydration that required IV treatment and anti-nausea medication. Social media posts from the team confirmed that players were “projectile vomiting all night,” while the coaching staff scrambled to get them medical attention before game time.
Despite UC Berkeley’s request for a short postponement, the Atlantic Coast Conference denied the appeal, forcing the Bears to compete the next day with a depleted roster and a fourth-string goalkeeper. The result was a 7–1 loss to Louisville — but far greater than the loss was the concern for the team’s health and the potential cause of the outbreak.
Suspected Source and Public Health Concerns
The team reportedly ate dinner the night before at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Louisville. One player later posted on Yelp that she believed their Caesar salad was the culprit, noting symptoms consistent with Listeria monocytogenes infection — though health officials have not yet confirmed the pathogen involved.
Listeria is one of the most dangerous foodborne bacteria, capable of surviving in cold environments and causing severe infection in vulnerable individuals. While it remains unclear whether Listeria or another pathogen caused the illness, the severity of the players’ symptoms and the number of hospitalizations suggest a serious contamination event.
Incidents like this raise important questions about food safety protocols for traveling athletic teams. Collegiate athletes often eat on the road, relying on restaurants and catering services that may not follow the same stringent food handling standards expected for large groups. When sanitation lapses occur — such as improper refrigeration, cross-contamination, or inadequate cooking — bacteria can multiply rapidly, leading to outbreaks that endanger not only performance but also long-term health.
Why It Matters
Beyond the competitive setback, the Cal field hockey outbreak serves as a stark reminder that foodborne illness is not limited to private kitchens or public cafeterias. It can strike even the most prepared, health-conscious groups when contaminated ingredients enter the supply chain.
For athletes, the stakes are even higher. Sudden illness can derail months of training, compromise physical conditioning, and — as in this case — force teams to compete under dangerous and unfair conditions. The incident also raises ethical concerns about tournament oversight: if a significant portion of a team is hospitalized, should the governing body be obligated to reschedule the match?
Lessons in Prevention
Public health experts emphasize the importance of preventive vigilance. Teams and universities can reduce risks by:
- Choosing trusted, well-reviewed restaurants with strict health compliance records.
- Avoiding high-risk foods such as raw salads, unpasteurized dairy, or undercooked meats before competition.
- Coordinating with local health departments when large-scale illness occurs, to ensure rapid investigation and containment.
- Maintaining emergency medical protocols for foodborne illness while traveling.
The Louisville outbreak underscores a recurring truth: food safety is a shared responsibility between producers, servers, consumers, and organizers. In environments where performance and well-being intersect — such as collegiate sports — that responsibility becomes even more critical.
