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.
People need to stop hiding behind this power dynamic crap. I've stood up to executives before when I knew I was right. If you're running for a coach that's having you do unhealthy things you need to sacrifice the scholarship and leave.
Doctors should be the ones to approach athletes about eating disorders. No one else. The university doctors should be meeting with athletes on a regular basis to asses Ms whether things like ED and of course then to treat it. Also, we do need to realize that a person with a thin bone structure, consuming a healthy diet, and running high mileage will be extremely thin. This is not an ED.
Would you go up to a shelter worker and say that many of the people they are feeding and sheltering have a drug addiction and they need intervention now?
ED much like drug addictions usually takes you being able to realize you have a problem on your own plus the mental strength to dig yourself out of that hole plus people who know and love you to be there to help. Very rare for it to happen without all those things present.. so unless you are willing to become a friend to those athletes and hope they realize they have a problem IDK if you are doing much good. Community is so very important with addition... If you have no community it is very hard to get out no matter how much you want to try. and if your community has the same problem but in denial also is really hard to get out.
For a moment there after reading the topic headline I thought you were referring to Erectile Dysfunction and you were making some sarcastic joke about steroid use and or PEDs.
But in any case, it is hard to confront coaches regarding their athletes when it comes to any kind of injury, illness, disorder or whatever else that can happen when a person is training at a high level to compete.
I have absolutely no experience. Have never been a coach or a member of some college or high-school or other kind of athletic/sports team. But it seems to me that there must be some culture to it all and if one coach tells another coach something that the other coach should absolutely be aware regarding the health and welfare of the people training under him, the other coach may not appreciate it at all and does not want anyone revealing him as the chances are that he just wants to win at all costs.
It is unlikely that a coach does not know when his or her athletes are having ED or other such issues. It happens in sports such as gymnastics and figure skating. I have heard that Russian female figure skaters are under such pressure that their coaches tell them not to even drink water. Of course ED is mainly addressed in terms of female athletes but I imagine that at least sometimes male athletes experience it too.
I'm proud that we are now talking about this. I think this is moving the needle on what needs to be addressed. Concussions are all the rage for the NCAA- but this seems to get swept under the rug and coaches KNOW this... so it starts with them
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