Tennis no match in student's battle with bulimia

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

Kelli Heaton Eubanks, a tennis player at the University of Tennessee from 1996 to 1998, gave up her scholarship after her sophomore season because of bulimia.

She received counseling and support from the university's health care system but eventually decided she could not play competitive tennis and win her struggle with an eating disorder at the same time.

Eubanks dropped out of school the second semester of her freshman year, sought help at an in-patient treatment center and returned to Tennessee the next fall. But her bulimia continued, and after competing that season, she walked away from tennis.

"My life was more important to me than tennis was," says Eubanks, 28. "If I wanted to be 100% healthy, I couldn't be a part of the sport anymore."

Too many 'triggers'

Eubanks' experience underscores the reality that faces even the most advanced and committed college health care systems.

"You can't have a 100% success rate," says Jenny Moshak, Tennessee's assistant athletic director for sports medicine and co-founder of Tennessee's Team Enhance program for its female student-athletes. "You can try everything, but there are some athletes you can't reach. We've had some success with athletes going into in-patient treatment and returning. We've had some success with athletes just taking a break from their sport and then coming back. And then we have not.

"Kelli worked hard in her recovery, and we encouraged her to stay in school and play a sport she loved. Unfortunately, tennis brought back too many triggers."

One reason Eubanks chose Tennessee was its health care system for student athletes.

"The staff was incredible and really tried to help," Eubanks says. "But at times I wasn't always willing to accept their help because I always thought I could (beat bulimia) myself."

Eubanks began struggling with the disorder at age 12 and sought professional help in high school through counseling. She arrived at Tennessee as a player highly recruited by Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conference schools, whose officials thought she was in control of her health. She wasn't.

By Thanksgiving of her freshman year in 1996, Eubanks was in a tailspin. She felt isolated and thought she was failing her coach and her teammates. Despite treatment, Eubanks realized after her sophomore season that the demands of competition sapped her of the energy she needed to maintain her health.

"I could just think about getting sick and I would throw up," Eubanks says. "You just stick your hand in your mouth." She could go days or weeks without succumbing, but during her low periods she would induce vomiting five or six times a day.

"I wasn't the athlete I used to be mentally. I didn't have that fight," Eubanks says. "I gave up something I had trained for since I was 11 and that was devastating. But I was at a point where I would do whatever it took to get past this."

Eubanks dropped out of college, returned to South Carolina and married her hometown sweetheart in November 1998. It took her a year away from the pressures of competitive tennis to bring her bulimia under control, but she has done it.

No more competitive play

She taught tennis for six years until the first of her two children was born, but she has not played competitively since leaving Tennessee. She speaks to high school and college groups about her struggle.

"Talking about it is very helpful for me, and I think I can help other people," Eubanks says. "I won't steer my children away from tennis or other sports, but I will be very cautious.

"It is a sport, not your life, and you have to remember that."

To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com