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1. Fallon Spriggs, a junior on the softball team at SUNY New Paltz discussed the
direct impact and correlation between being a female athlete and developing disordered
eating.
“Being so constantly focused on fitting this unrealistic mold, I was always so
worried about eating too much, or looking a specific way,” said Spriggs. With sports
being a driving force behind her suffering from an eating disorder, Spriggs discussed just
how harshly sports could affect young females participating in sports.
According to the National Eating Disorder Awareness website, “when the
pressures of athletic competition are added to an existing cultural emphasis on thinness,
the risks increase for athletes to develop disordered eating. In a study of Division 1
NCAA athletes, over one-third of female athletes reported attitudes and symptoms
placing them at risk for anorexia nervosa.”
Surrounded within an environment that demands perfection, high self-
expectations and a compulsive drive, being a female athlete raises your risk for
developing an eating disorder by 23 percent according to the NEDA website. Sports that
emphasize appearance, weight requirements or a certain level of muscularity can be
major triggers and risk factors for athletes of all kinds.
“I let an unrealistic idea into my head of what I was supposed to look like, play
like and feel like at all times. Now that I look back on it, I noticed that I really took for
granted what I had and how allowing myself to succumb to this eliminated a lot of sports
opportunities for me throughout my career,” noticing how prevalent this mentality was
amongst her gymnast team members, Spriggs talked about how her mentality eventually
carried over from gymnastics, to softball and unfortunately it extended within her every
day life. “I suffered from bulimia and anorexia, originally it was only a few times before
a big meet, plus a good amount of the girls on my team were doing it, so I figured I
would try it too. It’s all kind of a trap, especially in high school when all you want is to fit
in, you’re part of this team were everyone looks the same and fits the mold of what you
want to be, it’s really tough not to get caught up in it.” Talking about how it is a vicious
cycle, Spriggs “is so thankful that she had a strong support system and healthy family
structure to come home to because those can also be huge triggers in relapses.”
National Eating Disorders Awareness week, which takes place every February,
challenges everyone to promote healthy lifestyles, while also bringing eating disorders to
the forefront of the public eye, in hopes to change people’s perspective on these diseases
as a whole.
“Harsh dieting and strict workouts ultimately turned into not eating at all, which
resulted in me ending up at the lowest point of my life,” said Spriggs. “I can remember
one softball practice where we were running sprints and I had to sit out because the room
felt like it was spinning and I was in the middle of it, my coach had asked me what I had
to eat that day and I couldn’t even remember.” It was in this moment that Spriggs said
she really came to terms with what she was putting her body through.

2. Conforming to a “fit society,” as head softball coach Brittany Robinson says “is
the hardest part, these girls come into college and don’t expect things to change,
especially their bodies. Being away from home is also a huge trigger, learning to adapt to
new eating habits takes a toll on these females and can ultimately leave them feeling
helpless.”
As a young coach, Robinson talked about “not really knowing how to initially
handle the ongoing issue amongst female athletes,” focusing on keeping a healthy
environment for her players, Robinson makes an important point of having an open door
policy with her team. “I’m really close with the members of my team and I make it a
priority to check in with the individuals on their health, meals they’re eating and
workouts they are doing, etc. We also just added a conditioning coach on to our staff who
works really well with the girls and creates meal plans for them as desired.”
Katie Rutcofsky, a senior on the women’s softball team here at SUNY New Paltz
discussed how she too struggled with body image issues, which ultimately resulted in her
developing an eating disorder. “It’s so much more common than people think, especially
in sports I see it all the time, even in people who don’t have an eating disorder yet, body
image issues are extremely prevalent in athletics and everyday life.” Talking about
transitioning into college Rutcofsky says “I went from being 105 lbs, to 125 lbs within
my freshman year, immediately concerned by the giant jump in weight, I didn’t even take
into account the major amount of muscle I had put on my body from the different
workouts and conditioning that I was doing with my team. I was so uneducated on these
things and this was a main trigger for me, so I thought I would just start by cutting certain
things out of my diet, but eventually that led to minimal eating.”
“Never wanting to admit what was actually happening it was actually a NEDA
poster on campus that sparked my attention and made me come to terms with what was
happening within my own body,” said Rutcofsky. “How people perceive athletes to look
and how they actually look are two different things and I think that is one of the most
important things to remember, that no body, or individual is any better than yours.”
According to the NEDA website, this organization helps by “advocating on behalf
of families affected by eating disorders.” Using female athletics as a platform to help
assist in this process, NEDA hopes to improve and diminish the ongoing issue that has
limited countless female athletes from continuing their playing careers and living an
active and healthy life.
“I think what NEDA is doing is an amazing thing by bringing these disorders to
the forefront and really trying to tackle this problem as whole,” said Spriggs.
Source List:
Katie Rutcofsky: Date interviewed 2/18 (516)-304-1017
Fallon Spriggs: Date interviewed 2/1 (845)-532-5532
Brittany Robinson: Date Interviewed 2/1 (845)-546-8490
National Eating Disorder Awareness Organization, “NEDA Week, Feeding Hope”
(accessed at nationaleatingdisorders.org, 2/1/2016)
NCAA, “Mind Body and Sport: Eating Disorders” (accessed at ncaa.org 2/14/2016)

3. Photo courtesy of espn.go.com