NORMALLY I am exuding the benefits of sport in terms of physical health, mental health, self-esteem — basically all the positives. However a question I had to ask myself the other day was: Does sport have two faces?
On one hand we look at sport to keep us healthy and active; on the other hand I am reading this week the horror stories that some elite athletes have told of their issue with an eating disorder and how it was instigated through their performance at elite level in their sport. So another question must be whether we are putting too much pressure on athletes to bring back the medals. Is the pressure on athletes to win at all costs setting up long-term health issues for many participants?
I read this week not one but three different articles from athletes themselves talking about the pressure they felt to lose weight, sometimes through their own unguided ambition to be the best, sometimes through a careless word glibly uttered by a trusted coach.
Stories from the world of horse racing, badminton, climbing, cycling and running have all surfaced this week and given rise to concern not only with the parents of young children who look to involve their off-springs in healthy activity, in the hope it keeps them safe and away from the harm of so many other not so healthy pursuits that have a strong appeal to the young — it is also concerning for the sports themselves.
In my time with football, nutrition was the buzzword and a lot of the requirements came through extensive research which was available to all, to ensure that an athlete’s body was equipped with the right fuel to participate and recover. I’m not saying every player enjoyed the regime, as some had some very bad eating habits, however it was an extremely healthy menu put in front of them and a lot of education was on hand to enable them to understand the benefits of adopting this regime as a lifestyle.
Getting to peak fitness is important for an athlete and for many sports, weight is one of the deciding factors required to meet an opponentt. Balance and good education have to form part of this strategy to ensure that there are no long term issues lurking sinisterly It’s great to see the marketing being increased around the participation of our top footballers in the run up to Euro 2017, which will kick-off in The Netherlands shortly, with the opening game on July 16 pairing the hosts against one of Scandinavia’s top teams, Norway.
I’ve got my tickets and my singing voice tuned for July 19 when Scotland take on the Auld Enemy England in Utrecht. It would be great to have the strong backing of a large Scotland support out there to cheer on the team. It’s a big task for Scotland as they have three key players out for this historical campaign. Kim Little (Arsenal), who will be part of C4 commentary team, Jenny Beattie (Manchester City) and Emma Mitchell (Arsenal).
I can’t wait for the tournament to kick-off. It has been a long time coming and I know that the players have been given every conceivable support to ensure that they are in peak condition to compete. What they need now is for the whole of Scotland to get behind them and support them. Make sure you tune in as all the games will be shown on C4.
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