The Invisible Battle: Impacts of Type One Diabetes on Sports and Mentality

My name is Delaney Holtey, and I am a 19-year-old student-athlete at the University of Iowa studying health and human physiology on a pre-chiropractic track. I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and at the age of seven was diagnosed with type one diabetes, otherwise known as T1D. Since then, I have grown and matured to live a busy lifestyle while managing being a student-athlete and a type one diabetic. I want to share my story, diagnosis, and journey with you all. Additionally, I want to discuss what I’ve learned and give some advice to other T1D athletes, their families, teammates, and coaches. Catch up with Part 1 here.

 

Impacts of T1D on Sports: 

Many people have a general understanding of diabetes. But most do not know all the effects that type one diabetes has on competing and training.

Training

First, different kinds of training will affect you differently. Personally, I lift/strength train and then practice soccer and run. That’s strength and endurance, two different kinds of workouts. Each style of training does different things to my blood sugars. This will vary for every diabetic and every sport.

For me, my blood sugars fall when I strength train and rise when I play or run. That is something I have had to figure out and get accustomed to so I can perform my best without complications from my blood sugars.

There are days when your sugars won’t go your way regardless of how routine you are, and that’s okay. You will adapt and overcome. I could eat, sleep, train, and rest the same exact way for a week straight, and my blood sugars would look and trend differently every single day. 

Muscle Recovery

Next, muscle recovery and healing are different from a normal athlete. For me, insulin leads me to bulk easier, so there are certain styles of lifting I do not care for. This is something I am constantly working on and figuring out to see what makes me feel and get stronger in the best way for me.

Diabetics’ healing is slower in general, so when breaking down our muscles while lifting, it will naturally take longer to build back up and heal. This can lead me to be sore for longer and get knots in my muscles as they try to heal. 

Recovering from Injury

Recovery also applies to injury. A sprained ankle, surgery, or broken bone may take you longer to heal and recover from, compared to a person without diabetes. This is another reason why I try to have the best management I can so that I can perform and heal my best when it comes to injury recovery. 

Sleep and Rest

Sleep is another thing that can be lost easily as a diabetic. I have had countless nights of having my technology fail, a site go bad, or my insulin pump have issues. I lose hours of sleep.

Sleep is important in recovery, which can be frustrating. Even when you lose sleep, the world doesn’t wait for you to catch up, even with these things being outside of your control. 

Eating

A T1D athlete’s eating might look different from the rest of the team as well. Every diabetic has specific foods they stay away from before training, on gameday, or in general. An example for me would be coffee.

I have noticed that caffeine has a specific effect on my blood sugars, so I am strategic as to when or if I drink caffeine. As I have gotten older, I learned how my trends work with caffeine. But, for a while, I stayed away from it.

Certain foods will spike my blood sugars, so I have found things I know will not do that to me before training or a game.

On another note, diabetics will almost always carry snacks in their bags in case their blood sugars go low. So, it is important that teammates and friends know what that food is for in case a diabetic needs help, or so no one eats the snacks for enjoyment unless offered. 

Effects on Play

Blood sugars have a significant effect on your playing ability and processing times. Personally, when I feel my blood sugars are off in practice or a game, it is hard for me to focus on anything else outside of that.

When my blood sugars are high, I notice my reaction times are significantly slower. I find it harder to keep and catch my breath.

I could be at my peak fitness, but if my sugars are high, I feel very out of shape and get winded much faster. Most of the time, I do not play when I am low. But, over the years, I have figured out some strategies regarding taking carbohydrates that can help bring up my sugars while playing.

However, while my sugars come up, I often shake, making my mental engagement in a practice activity less than it normally would be. My blood sugar trends can make or break a training session. So I try with all my power to have these things not happen.

This is one of the many things many spectators, teammates, or coaches, may not realize happen with being a T1D athlete. 

 

Mentality as a T1D Athlete:

You choose your mentality toward living with diabetes, like many other circumstances and situations. I chose not to combat it but rather embrace it. This has looked different throughout my different stages of life. And, I have no doubt it will continue to change as I grow older.

When I was younger, I didn’t bring it up as much as I do now. I was never ashamed of having T1D. But, it was something I did not want to bring up to others unless I had to.

During my early teenage years, I often found myself angry at the universe for giving me diabetes. I didn’t have much faith in myself, and I let it take hold of my attitude.

As I matured, I began to realize the platform that being a diabetic athlete could give me, especially to help others. Since my sophomore year of high school, I have been proud to live with diabetes. I started to understand how I could turn my crappy circumstances into strength. And, to help inspire and motivate others in that way. 

Having an Inspirational Mindset

Today, I hope I run into a little girl with a pump or site so I can tell her, “You can do anything. Diabetes won’t limit you unless you let it.”

In early August of 2022, I played in our exhibition game. After the game finished, we were doing autographs for a group of kids and young campers. Before heading over to the tables I thought to grab my pump and have it on my waist just in case I saw a kiddo with one too.  That mentality has and is only continuing to grow as I go through college. I want to be a role model for those kids who might not realize they can do anything they put their minds to. 

Over the years, I have accepted that diabetes was given to me. I learned that there are a lot of great things that can come out of being dealt a harder hand in life. I have learned maturity, discipline, responsibility, time management, perseverance, and many other life skills due to having diabetes.

Letting Go of Control

However, one thing I struggle with is the ability to let things go that I cannot control. Diabetes has made me want to control every aspect of my life, but that is not how life works. Letting go of those things you cannot control and taking more of a “roll with the punches” mindset to diabetes can be a great thing too.

My nurse shared with me some surprising information. There are 42 different factors that can affect your blood sugar trends. A diabetic can control only 3 of those (Brown, diatribe.org). That was a life-changing fact that helped me have some grace for myself. I know I can do everything in my power, and things may still not go my way.

This is also something that I stress to others, especially coaches or parents that may expect you to be 100% all the time; it is an unrealistic expectation. Yes, better control of blood sugars and trends does equal better performance and health. However, we are human, and things can and will go wrong. It happens. It is normal.

Those Who Don’t Understand

Another important thing I think all diabetics need to be aware of; understand that unless a person has T1D themselves or has a very close person to them with T1D, they will not fully understand or comprehend it.

This can be incredibly frustrating, especially with coaches or people of authority that demand a lot from you. I have had great coaches when it comes to diabetes. They do not micromanage me but instead allow me to take care of myself when I need to without making me feel guilty or anxious.

On the contrary, I have had coaches that are not as kind and helpful, even at times making comments about something I cannot control regarding my T1D. At the time, those things made me furious, and with good reason. But as I have gotten older, I have started to understand that those people do not understand it. If they do not try to understand, there is nothing you can do. You must let it go and move on in life.

No diabetic is the same either. So if you have another teammate with T1D, odds are their routine won’t work for you, and that’s okay. I am going to reiterate: no two diabetics are the same!

Try explaining this to your coaches and staff. Hopefully different accommodations can be made for you than another diabetic you may be playing with. Look at your diabetes as a challenge that you can overcome and inspire along the way. Creating a positive T1D community will help everyone. It will make it seem a lot easier to take care of yourself. Plus, you can inspire other people and share your story along the way!  

Stay tuned for part three of Delaney Holtey’s experience with T1D, coming next Tuesday. She’ll give advice on how teammates, parents, and coaches can approach athletes with T1D. 

_

GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS