Lincoln High School Student-Athletes: a Story of Courage and Inspiration

Recently, Claire and Kyra, two seniors at Lincoln High School who have been advocating for athlete health and safety concerns, approached Wallyhood to bring attention to this important issue that they have experienced firsthand.

As they noted, “Over the past several years, we’ve been working toward legislative changes by meeting with state legislators, organizing coach workshops and educational events together, and rallying our peers to address gaps in coaching education that directly impact young athletes’ well-being.

“Through our own experience as student-athletes, we’ve seen firsthand the influence coaches have on their athletes. We have both experienced eating disorders at the hands of coaches who misguided us in ideas of fueling and exercise, especially for developing teenage bodies. Many of our peers have also experienced a neglect of mental health by coaching staff, emotional abuse, and toxic environments.”

This issue of student-athlete well-being seemed to be of importance to the community, so I asked Claire and Kyra to collaborate on an article describing how they have become advocates to raise awareness of this issue. They would like to bring awareness from a student-athlete perspective on the importance of athlete safety and well-being in athletics, at a local level.

After meeting with Claire and Kyra, it became apparent that this was a journey for both of them, covering several years. Although the mental and physical health issues these two young student- athletes experienced were somewhat different, they both were able to overcome significant obstacles, and clearly turned what was a significant negative condition into a highly positive outcome.

For Claire, it started in middle school with a form of anorexia. As she explained to me, “Amidst a world spewing diet culture, social pressure, and harmful body standards for female athletes, I had fallen ill to the idea that skinnier meant faster. On top of cross country and soccer practice, I would also spin for thirty minutes and do core workouts daily, all while finding every possible way to avoid food. A ‘commitment to healthy eating’ had spiraled into obsession. By November of seventh grade, I was weighing myself every day, and the number on the scale – and my life satisfaction – plummeted.

“Through the fight, I’d come to realize that knowledge was my greatest weapon. And, with my inquisitive nature, there was a sudden insatiable appetite for it. Nightly, I devoured research papers on the science behind energy restriction and found the results alarming but fascinating. I encountered terms like the female athlete triad, and eventually, RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport), and dove into uncovering the multifaceted and detrimental physiological impacts, as well as the pervasiveness of the condition. Most significantly, I found that I wasn’t alone: my story was just like so many others’ around the country.

“During summer 2023, I created Fueling Your Fire, a podcast that seeks to explore the nuances of RED-S and athlete health with medical professionals. Then I organized a RED-S awareness event at Lincoln High School, with guest speakers from UW Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital. When peers opened up about their own struggles and gushed about how my podcast made them feel seen, I knew I had found my greater purpose.”

For Kyra, it started in the fourth grade. As she explained, “I developed Binge Eating Disorder due to societal pressures, worsened by negative coaching experiences throughout my childhood and into my time in middle school. The summer before ninth grade, I researched my habits, sought professional help, and began my recovery. However, healing wasn’t immediate.

“In high school, I made the girls’ basketball team, but was disregarded due to my size. Over two years, I endured comments about my appearance, suggestions on ‘clean eating,’ and a lack of a properly fitting jersey. These coaches were new to the WIAA [Washington Interscholastic Activities Association], and their lack of education on nutrition and athlete health contributed to my prolonged recovery.

“In 11th grade, after quitting basketball, I contacted the WIAA about inadequate coach education on student-athlete health, including nutrition, puberty in athletics, and how growing bodies respond to training. My situation is different than most athletes. I developed an eating disorder that is less common among student-athletes; however, it impacted my experience, training, and mental health. To me, it is important that coaches are aware of issues that impact their athletes and, by learning and being aware, know how to address them and how to prevent them as mentors to young adults. Miseducated mentors are as dangerous as uneducated mentors, and coaches are mentors to student-athletes.”

To increase awareness across the coaching community, these two remarkable young student-athletes organized and conducted two workshops during 2024. The first workshop took place on Saturday, June 1st, and offered hour-long sessions on Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation, Sports Nutrition, Health, Team Dynamics (Building a Safe Culture), and an additional thirty-minute session on college recruitment. In addition, the workshop provided WIAA coaching hours for all participating coaches.

The second Coaches Education Workshop was held in November 2024 and was open to all coaches across the Metro League, including attendees from Ingraham, Roosevelt, Nathan Hale, and Lincoln High Schools. Local businesses supported this event, including Tutta Bella, Eltana Bagels, Super Jock and Jill, and Macrina Bakery. This workshop was modified from the first to include new topics and updated content.

It featured the following sessions:
Team Dynamics – presented by the Positive Coaching Alliance
Health and Nutrition – presented by Monica Van Winkle, MS, RDN, former dietitian for the Seattle Mariners and University of Washington Athletics; owner of Nutrition in Action
College Recruitment – presented by Scott Laigo, founder of Student Athlete Advocates
Sports Psychology – presented by Gary Chupik, a leading sports psychologist and founder of GamePlan for Life

Both of these workshops were well attended and have resulted in some positive changes to the athletic training regimen, like making snack boxes accessible during practice and games for the Volleyball and Wrestling teams, and providing some additional products in medical kits. There have even been some positive changes on how coaches address some of the stereotypes of girls in athletics.

Both Claire and Kyra felt strongly that although they felt positive about the outcomes from the two coaching workshops, additional awareness of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S) is needed. I researched some information about the WIAA and RED-S to get a better sense of these issues as it pertains to high school student-athletes.

Relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) is a syndrome in which disordered eating leads to low energy availability, decreased bone mineral density (osteoporosis and osteopenia), and irregular menstrual periods (in women). It is caused by eating too little food to support the amount of energy being expended by an athlete, often at the urging of a coach or other authority figure who believes that athletes are more likely to win competitions when they have an extremely lean body type. RED-S is a serious illness with lifelong health consequences and can potentially be fatal.

RED-S is the broader, more comprehensive name for what was formerly known as the female athlete triad (or simply the triad), which was a condition seen in females participating in sports that emphasize leanness or low body weight. As the non-menstrual components are also seen in males, the name was changed to the comprehensive term RED-S.

Both Claire and Kyra will be graduating from Lincoln High School this year, and heading off to college in the fall to continue their career aspirations. They hope that by sharing their story, an example of young leadership being instrumental in addressing a problem and identifying solutions, their work will be carried on by other high school student-athletes with support from coaches.