Sports Teams, making weight too much of an issue? Options

[spiffilicious05]

Okay, for my high school team I was told that if I wanted to be in the first boat I would have to loose weight.

Having an underactive theiroid (sp?) made this an extremely hard problem to overcome. But nonetheless I lost 35 lbs and I am now in the top boat.

However, I still have weight to loose. The problem is most people say I'm starting to look good now and if I could loose about 10 more lbs I would be thin. But for college at Boston, their average weight is about 20 - 25 lbs lighter than I am now. This wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that their average height is 5'9"

It is "strongly encouraged" that we find ourselves at that weight and height.

I know some girls who are lower than the weight requirements and have been told to become lightweights. These girls are starving themselves and are sickly thin, you can see their rib cages and shoulderblades poking through their clothes.

One boy in Philly PA died the other day in the middle of a crew race of a heart attack. They say the cause was the harm done to his body in trying to become a lightweight.

I know too many girls who exhibit signs of eating disorders and I'm beginning to see them in myself as well.

Is this all in my head or do any of you experience these types of issues on your teams as well?

[zivane]

My dance team never really had weight as an issue. Some were on the large side and some were on the thin side. Although I still kind of got hit with it. It wasn't pressure from my teacher or other members of the team (I was about in the middle on the weight side). But... just in class and going to competitions it was always the skinnier girl who won. I'd always notice. I just did. We never had pressure though... ever.

[Silver Star Ange...]

My school is actually very tolerant of people with different weight ranges. For example, our girls softball team has a great variety of sizes and we are about to be in the city finals. Our boys baseball team also has a large variety and also is about to be in the finals.

[spiffilicious05]

so does our softball, but our swimming and crew and gymnastics teams are all freaks about weight issues

don't even get me started about the wrestlers -- righteous was one, he could tell you more about that.

[Jaq]

I think in those sorts of sports, gymnastics, sculling, wrestling, even cheerleading, where the weight and size of atheletes actually have an impact on the outcome of the event, the tendency for eating disorders and body image problems among atheletes rises. Especially when you put being a teenager and all of the stresses and insecurities that go along with that on top of it.

[spiffilicious05]

I'd definitely have to agree with that. You also have to take into consideration the people in the media today. Some of today's rolemodels for the younger generation are sickly thin. Mary-Kate and Lindsay Lohan look like twigs.

But in all reality most models in magazines are air brushed, thus their imperfections are eliminated. There's a lot of factors playing into situations like these, and it is no wonder why many young teenagers have eating disorders.

[Mata]

Keira Knightley famously was photoshopped for the King Arthur posters

http://www.defamer.com/topic/keira-knightl...tion-017426.php

They made her breasts larger and her stomach flatter.

Not only are you supposed to have boobs, but you're supposed to be a twig too. Sheesh.

[voices_in_my_hea...]

Alot of the girls at my school are on diets, when their already too skinny for their own good. On any given day, you could walk into the lunch room, and see about a quarter of the girls just sitting there without lunch.

Most people will say that I'm too skinny. And I'll admit to being a bit evil if some girl who weighs less than a feather comes up and ask me what diet I'm on. I'll tell them: "eat as much of the school's food as you can for 1 week."
what? I'm just trying to get them to gain weight. I mean, If they don't, they might just blow away when the next Gust of wind comes through.

[Righteous]

[spam]

Not only are you supposed to have boobs, but you're supposed to be a twig too. Sheesh.

That's not always healty. I've known chicks like that who start having major back problems in mid high school because they're like that naturally. Their frames just weren't made to support that.
[/spam]

I wrestled for three years. On my second year, I got down to 145 and nearly passed out during a match. We took skin-fold caliper (sp?) tests early in the season and it said that I shouldn't be below 152. I wasn't the only one to do such things. Wrestlers on my team have worn plastic bags during practices, spit into cups for hours on end, induced vomitting, fasted for days, took diet pills, shaved their bodies, took laxitives and did pretty much whatever they could to get down as far as possible. Looking back, it was pretty disturbing. These guys were killing themselves to lose weight. I got into some of it, too since I have an underactive thyroid as well. The FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) had strict rules against cutting weight, though I know that we and every other team in our district broke those rules on a daily basis. Seriously, had the FHSAA cracked down, there would probably be no high school wrestling teams in Florida.

[Calantyr]

Only loose the ammount of weight that YOU are happy living with yourself. It is your body. It is not worth dying or causing serious injury to yourself over anything, especially not a sport. If you are getting eating disorders, bones showing, or are having problems concentrating (etc) you have to stop and take a good look at yourself.

I did some stupid stuff while slimming. Mostly just overexercising while eating practically nothing. I remember passing out a few times. Who knows what else was going on with my insides... In the end I considered it wasn't worth it.

[Faerieryn]

I spent most of my life being told to put ON weight. During my time at secondary school I was 5ft3in and weighed around 6 1/2 stone. I had "friends" make jokes about how thin I was, the school nurse phoned home every time I was weighed, I was sent to see a specialsit for a year who detemined that I was "just skinny" after all of that. Being the right weight for you is what is important. I still think that you should speak to someone in authority about this Spiff. If this was happening in an english school, there would be hell to pay (and it may actually be happening, but if it is no one has pointed it out yet!) young people's bodies are still developping. If you cut out fats etc from your diet you risk your body eating bits of you in order to carry on growing. Things like brittle bone disease in later life can be linked to dangerous weight loss during childhood and adolescence. Find a photo of a girl who is 5ft 9 and the recommended weight. Show it to your coach in a completely non related conversation. DON'T tell him how much he weights. When he says she looks ill/ anorexic/ too thin point out that this is how he wants you to look AND take part in a sport as well.

Take care Spiff and don't do anything you son't feel right about