Hi Guys
I could use some advice on how to deal with an athlete. He's 14 years old and plays rugby. Since his age grade has started doing S&C he's been really keen and put a lot of effort in. Last night his coach showed me an email from his mother. She raised concerns that his recent concussion was being made worse or symptoms were now entirely down to poor hydration. She said that it was a real struggle to get him to drink and that he had some body image issues. In it she asked his coach to get me involved as the player looked up to me.
This evening I spoke to our Director of Rugby, he said the players mother had spoken to him after training and based on what she said the situation is a bit more advanced than the email suggested. He's apparently intentionally starving himself to try and lose weight. I've never had to deal with this kind of situation before and would appreciate feedback on my planned approach.
I'm worried that if I go at it head on he may shut down and I can lose the relationship and the communication that it gives me. What I'm planning is to bring in a nutrition focus for his whole age grade for the next while. I want to bring in a nutritionist to discuss good practice, highlight good habits during all training sessions. My start point however is going to be hydration and why they shouldn't be dieting. The big reason I'm going to highlight is if they starve themselves they'll end up putting more weight on when the eat healthily again or die from lack of food. Is this too obvious?
I also want to bring in food/hydration diaries to try keep an eye on him. Obviously he easily lie so I'll need to have regular contact with his mother to try and verify the information he's giving me.
What I'm not sure is changing his view on body image. I can tell him about good nutrition all I want but as long as the poor body image is there there will be a risk of him going down this path again. Just improving his appearance I don't think is the right option as it's not addressing the problem and may even worsen it. As I said earlier I'm wary of going at it head on. Considering his age these things are more likely to seem disproportionately important, bringing his friends into could backfire hugely, and while he's often loud I don't think he has much/any confidence about him.
While he does have a bit of excess weight I think most people would describe it as puppy fat, it has no impact on his ability to move, he's actually the technically best lifter out of that group. This may offer a way to bring him to a healthier state of mind. This post is getting pretty long so I'll cut it off here, let me know your opinions/thoughts or if you need more info.
