In-Depth
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REDEFINING
inning is highly valued in athletics. There are no grades or honor roll; winning is the main success that at an athlete can achieve in their sport. At Westside, winning is an expectation. Westside athletes push themselves to uphold the strict expectations of achievement, but how far are athletes willing to go, and should winning be their only form of accomplishment? According to Healthy Living instructor and varsity football coach Brody Schmaderer, kids today are putting too much pressure on winning, and not enough on their mental health. He believes that this can result in physical and mental harm. “Anything that takes you to a far extreme [is] putting you at a great risk of some type of a disorder,” Schmaderer said. “Whether it’s an eating disorder, or to the point of depression and anxiety.” Eating disorders are extremely common among athletes today. In a study conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, it was reported that 33 percent of high school female athletes have symptoms and attitudes, making them at high risk for eating disorders. Schmaderer believes this correlates to the need to win. “I don’t think sports cause [eating disorders], but I think they can up the chance of it happening,” Schmaderer said. “I think there are lots of people that play sports [and] don’t have eating disorders, but because sports has gotten to the point where winning is everything, people are doing whatever it takes to get there. For something like
don’t want to be able to see it on their bodies.” Sophomore, and dance team member, Cadence Higgins believes that eating disorders and poor body image are common in the dance world. “I think everyone in dance struggles with [body image],” Higgins said. “The image of dance is to be really skinny, have longer legs and to not be too muscular. I got injured earlier this year and without training, I did gain weight and got really frustrated. I worked really [hard] to lose the weight in a healthy way, but I did struggle for a while, because, when your weight changes in dance, it changes everything. Weight changes your center of balance, how you turn, how you leap. Keeping a good weight balance, and keeping it healthy and eating the right foods is really important.” According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, eating disorders are more common in athletes who are involved in judged sports, such as gymnastics, figure skating, and dance. Thirteen percent of athletes in judged sports have eating disorders opposed to three percent in refereed sports. Higgins believes an environment that has an expectation of only winning, like a competitive sport, plays a huge role in an athlete’s mental health. “At my old studio, my dance teacher was always comparing me to other dancers,” Higgins said. “[The teacher] likes [to] win a lot [and] you need to be like her and it was really frustrating. I hated when relationships
WINNING How Westside is prioritizing mental health in sports gymnastics or ice skating, it’s about being in incredible shape. Sometimes drastic measures are, in their minds, the [only] way to be successful. Students are taking incredible risks to get [a preferred body].” Schmaderer believes body expectations for each sport are different, especially between men and women. “For a lot of male sports, kids are trying to be faster, stronger, eat more, [and] lift more,” Schmaderer said. “So I think [what] they want to see their body do is grow and get bigger and stronger. It’s the opposite for ladies sports; they still want to get bigger, faster and stronger, but they
The Lance
