Changing the Narrative
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If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that sports are absolutely incredible. If you’re reading this, I’m sure you agree with that statement! I truly loved my time as an athlete and wouldn’t change it for the world! But as I’ve gotten older, experienced more of life, became a professional in the sports nutrition space, and grew in my faith, I started to realize something: as amazing as it is, sport culture needs to change.
This really challenged me at first. Because I found myself fighting back against a culture I had so quickly assimilated to during my time as an athlete. It felt wrong to speak out against something that is so commonly accepted. But then I realized that Jesus did that pretty often. He didn’t just conform. He challenged the status quo.
This realization pointed me to the verse in Romans that talks about not following the customs or behaviors of this world. As I thought on that for a bit, I started thinking about how challenging that is for the athlete. Because we’re taught to follow the rules, right?
Do we need to follow the rules? For the most part, yes! This verse in Romans, however, really gave me the courage to speak up about a culture I believe needs to see change.
I recently made a post on Instagram that inspired this blog post where I highlighted seven key things I believe need to change in sport culture. Seven things I would love to see transform.
Here are the 7 things that need to change in sport culture:
Telling female athletes it’s normal to lose their period because they are so fit.
This is NOT normal. It’s actually very harmful to your health. But sport culture has deemed it a measure of fitness. When it’s the furthest thing from it!
Telling athletes they look “good” or “fit”.
Something I am passionate about is changing the narrative from appearance focused to performance focused. Instead of complimenting athletes on their looks, what if we focused on their game instead?
Having off limit foods until after a competition/game
This fosters an unhealthy relationship with food! Foods should never be off limits or used as rewards.
Demonizing sports drinks for having sugar in them.
We have come to fear sugar when sugar is the last thing we need to fear! Sugar has a purpose in sports drinks and it’s to fuel your muscles while you’re competing!
Locker room talk about how much weight a former or current teammate had gained or lost.
Especially as female athletes, there is so much pressure to look a certain way. And so often, that pressure is made worse by our own teammates. Just like number 2, what if instead of talking about our teammates weight, we talked about how inspiring they are, or how much drive they have, or motivation?
Getting nutrition information from a coach who has no formal nutrition training.
Our coaches only want what’s best for us (for the most part). But nutrition really isn’t their scope. Because what worked for them may not work for you! It’s important to get your nutrition information from credentialed professionals.
Saying our time as athletes was the best time of our lives.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVED being a student athlete! It was arguably a GREAT time in my life. But the best? I believe God has my best still ahead of me. Which is so dang exciting!
These are just a few of the things that came to mind when I was thinking about sports culture. I’ll be honest…I was hesitant to make the post and share it with the entire world (on my corner of social media). It made me nervous because I was speaking out against the norm!
But isn’t that what Jesus calls us to do? He calls us to share our convictions, and to do so boldly. To NOT copy the behaviors of this world, but to be transformed and change the way we think.
I can see this in my own life so much. The way I view sports, food, nutrition, body image, exercise, is completely different than it was 5 years ago. And I believe that’s a good thing. Some of my most strongly held beliefs have been radically changed for the better. And I want to share that change with the world.
Because whether it’s about sport culture or something else, we aren’t meant to conform. We are meant to be transformed, and to boldly share, just as Jesus did. What Jesus spoke about wasn’t popular or on trend in his day. He spoke BOLDY.
Sometimes I find myself wanting to just follow what’s popular or just go along with the newest trend of the week. Even if it feels off for me. As a business owner, it’s hard to stand for something totally different. Especially as a Christian business owner. But I know it’s what I am called to do!
Whenever I find myself struggling between doing what I think is right, and doing what the world tells me is “right”, I lean into this verse: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think…”.
We aren’t called to be the norm. We are called to be transformed.
Katie Spada
Katie is a registered dietitian and former athlete. She is the owner and founder of Spada Strong Nutrition LLC, a nutrition coaching business focused on helping former athletes transition their nutrition in life after sport. Katie competed as an elite level synchronized swimmer on the national team and collegiate levels for 11 years. Because of her experiences in sport, and her own battles with food and body image as an athlete and in life after, Katie founded Spada Strong Nutrition with the goal of helping athletes understand how to fuel their body’s in life after sport, work through body image struggles, and develop a healthy relationship with food as a retired athlete. Katie believes every former athlete (and athlete) deserves to feel good in their retired athlete skin and enjoy the foods they eat, guilt-free!