Lemme guess...this team's coach is female. Always works like that.
Lemme guess...this team's coach is female. Always works like that.
*what* the coach's team looks like...
The one I know of is a norcal school - female team coached by a female. Sad to see how many people would rather let this be because "not my problem"
justsayhi wrote:
Sad to see how many people would rather let this be because "not my problem"
Maybe because, at least in this case, it IS NOT their problem, nor is it yours; get it?
Obviously there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. I have brought up my concern for an athlete I know personally who worked with another coach (who lost a lot of weight and clearly had crossed that line). Showing concern vs finger pointing may actually open a coaches eyes an/or cause a shift in culture. From a coaches perspective I think sometimes a coach is too close to their athletes (in the every day sense) and it's easier to see from afar when athletes cross that line. Just my 2 cents
Toughen up cupcake. These athletes are in college, demand to be treated like adults and thus should know how to take care of themselves. If not, they should be able to figure out that flying too close to the sun will get you cooked. There is a ton of information available. Do your research and get on with it. Since when did personal responsibility fly out of the window?
If these women are adults it is up to them to advocate for themselves. In high school and below you are talking about children but once they are in college they are adults with very few exceptions (17 year olds with late birthdays). At no point should an adult be putting their health in the hand of a coach or anyone that isn't themselves or their doctor.
That goes for males as well though this thread is about women. I will never let my boss dictate my diet, runners shouldn't either.
Do you have any idea what combat athletes less than heavy weight go through to make weight? I doubt any XC coach is telling 5'7" females a few days before a meet to be sub-115 pounds or you're not going to next meet. A coach telling an athlete an athlete is too heavy, too fat is just coaching.
As bad as things sometimes are today, they are certainly better than the "thin to win" days of the 1970s.
One of my athletes back then transferred to an SEC school, where the highly successful (female) coach informed the athletes that they should strive for 12% body fat (determined, I believe, by calipers).
Twelve. Percent. For every woman on the cross country team.
Lookandsee wrote:
At what point as a community do we confront these things? I don’t want to embarrass anyone but there is a team out west that everyone talks about how sickly they are from likely ED’s…. There’s no hiding it either in their IG account
These women are winning races, but at what cost? And are we complicit if we simply stand by waiting for another sad story to unfold 5 years down the line like with Allie O? What is morally right?
Should we confront other coaches if it’s clear they have men racing with ED’s?
Thus topic is funny. Women win a race which means they are literally one of the fittest women in the country. Conversely, millions of women are obese.
Sorry this will be behind a paywall for many, but from today’s NYT. Lots of quotes from T&F athletes from P5 schools. Unlike the presence of a non-binary division in the NYC marathon, this issue is a truly grave one that directly and adversely impacts women athletes (and some men too). Much suffering and little collective action taken. I wish Rojo would write an editorial on this topic and discuss it incessantly. It would help a lot of people.
O.P. didn't mention a specific body fat percentage. Some on here don't believe a coach is supposed to tell athletes to lose weight. Coaches tell athletes in many sports to lose fat, lose weight. The alternative: a coach emails a XC athlete and states do not bother showing up for indoor T&F practice. Why is that better? I went from 5% to 12% body fat. I was told to lose fat and lose weight. I quickly went back to 5%. Those conversations with athletes occurred in all varsity sports. A running back told to get back to 190 lbs. A TE told to get back to 240 lbs. Give me down arrows but that's coaching.
q09340pqeujfj wrote:
If these women are adults it is up to them to advocate for themselves. In high school and below you are talking about children but once they are in college they are adults with very few exceptions (17 year olds with late birthdays). At no point should an adult be putting their health in the hand of a coach or anyone that isn't themselves or their doctor.
That goes for males as well though this thread is about women. I will never let my boss dictate my diet, runners shouldn't either.
The athletes are technically adults, but the power dynamic between coach and young athlete, especially an athlete on scholarship, is not going allow most to speak up even when the environment is bad. The onus is on the coach and professional staff to have the best interests of the athletes at heart. The best coaches can manage to field great teams of truly healthy athletes. We should collectively expect better.
Thus topic is funny. Women win a race which means they are literally one of the fittest women in the country. Conversely, millions of women are obese.
pavement88 wrote:
No one wants to talk about it but eating disorders are rampant amongst men as well. Are you going to confront a men's team coach about it?
Came here to say this.
Eat up wrote:
Thus topic is funny. Women win a race which means they are literally one of the fittest women in the country. Conversely, millions of women are obese.
Eating disorders are just as bad if not worse than obesity. Nothing "fit" about them.
Iron Bars wrote:
Toughen up cupcake. These athletes are in college, demand to be treated like adults and thus should know how to take care of themselves. If not, they should be able to figure out that flying too close to the sun will get you cooked. There is a ton of information available. Do your research and get on with it. Since when did personal responsibility fly out of the window?
Mental health requires professional help. Do you just google how to give yourself open heart surgery too?
Wise Old Man wrote:
Sorry this will be behind a paywall for many, but from today’s NYT. Lots of quotes from T&F athletes from P5 schools. Unlike the presence of a non-binary division in the NYC marathon, this issue is a truly grave one that directly and adversely impacts women athletes (and some men too). Much suffering and little collective action taken. I wish Rojo would write an editorial on this topic and discuss it incessantly. It would help a lot of people.
Eating disorders are contagious, just like suicide. That means that some efforts to combat it end up making the problem worse. Discussing EDs and running "incessantly" would likely normalize the behavior rather than make things better.
I used to coach NCAA DI men and women, multiple different schools. Go ahead and confront that coach, chances are they can’t do anything. They know the athlete has an ED, so does the trainer and probably a mental health specialist (if a larger university). The burden to get well falls on the athlete and their family. I had multiple runners that I wanted sent home, taken away for treatment but they are 18 and make a lot of their own health decisions. Then you get team docs and psychologists involved and the decision was rarely up to me. The school felt confident in the athletes “wellness plan” and the team they had in place to take care of them.
Also I was told by my SWA and compliance officers that I was not allowed to have discussions on weight or nutrition. A nutritionist was allowed to come speak to the team but I could not be present. The hand cuffs are crazy.