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NEDA TOOLKIT for Coaches and Trainers No one is blaming your sport! Talking with Keith Jefferson, Head Rowing Coach, Seattle Pacific University For Keith Jefferson, it was important to come to grips with the criticism his sport has faced for its weight restrictions. “The idea that gymnastics is just evil, or that lightweight rowing should not be allowed, I didn’t buy that,” says Jefferson, head rowing coach at Seattle Pacific University. A coach for 22 years, he has seen the evolution of awareness about eating disorders over time. In the early days of eating disorders prevention activity, it was not always made clear to coaches that the risks found in the sport environment were the problem, not the sport itself. “When I learned that this is an actual disorder,” he says, “it was a relief to know that my sport in and of itself was not evil.” He learned that anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and other types of eating disorders are actual mental disorders not caused by his sport. “It’s important for coaches to know that right off the bat because you’re not going to be highly motivated to solve a problem when somebody tells you your sport is wrong and bad. When you start from the proper posture, you can bore down to what the issues really are,” Jefferson says. Through his university’s eating disorders awareness events, he realized that the problem was bigger than just sport. “There’s an epidemic going on in our dorms,” he notes, and not just among athletes concerned about meeting weight restrictions. Jefferson has also learned from experience that disordered eating and eating disorders don’t just materialize when an athlete joins his team. In every case he’s seen among athletes, he says, there were other factors that predisposed an athlete to developing an eating disorder that “eventually revealed itself ” in the team setting. you see it for the first time on a team, the coach’s first reaction is often one of fear: You’re responsible for these athletes, and when you spend enough time with them, you love them.” Jefferson likens the discovery that an athlete on his team is struggling with an eating disorder to experiences he has had dealing with a difficult athlete whom he later learned suffered from ADHD (attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder). “When I found that out, I was suddenly relieved, I could understand why he or she was giving me these weird behaviors. Instead of getting mad, I could put it into context.” Keith Jefferson’s tips for dealing with a weight-based sport • • • Be clear with athletes that in a sport like rowing that is a performance sport, not a skill sport, you might be able to hide an eating disorder for a short while, but the performance degradation that will result from poor nutrition and fueling habits will eventually make disorders apparent. If the treating doctor advises it, the eating-disordered athlete should be relegated to the bench as the athlete, coach and the treatment team work together to meet treatment goals. Make sure your team captains are well-informed about the dangers of eating disorders, are in agreement with you that there is no place on the team for such disorders, and that they trust you and are trusted by their teammates. Have them monitor team members who you think may be at risk. Focus on performance from a health and nutrition perspective rather than from a weight perspective. “Once you have the context” of eating disorders right, Jefferson notes, “you can deal with the problem at its basis rather than trying to fiddle around with the symptoms. That was helpful for me. It allowed me to get over the fear of eating disorders, because when Page  | 39