Kyla Scott is thriving, not just surviving for the Athenas
From time-to-time during matches, Kyla Scott (HMC) flexes her hand to open and close her fist. Most everyone in attendance wouldn't even notice Scott's hand movement. And if a spectator did notice Kyla flex her hand, the motion doesn't appear out of the ordinary.
During Kyla's freshman season on the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team in 2015, head coach Dave Schwarz noticed Kyla flex her hand during the occasional practice or match, but he saw nothing unusual in her play, physical demeanor, or energy level. The ebbs and flows of Kyla's energy level didn't appear any different than other student-athlete who balances rigorous academics with competitive varsity college athletics.
"I never noticed anything on the court that would warrant wondering if she was alright," Schwarz said. "Plus, she is a Harvey Mudd [College] student. I know she comes here [to tennis] operating on a few hours of sleep sometimes. She would have days that she would perform better than others, but that's no different than any of our other student-athletes who have a busy schedule with tennis and academics. All athletes at top academic schools go through days where they have a little more energy than others. On a day-to-day basis, her energy is fantastic."
Wins have piled up for Kyla at an impressive rate during her two-year career as a key contributor for the Division IIl No.4-ranked Athenas. During 2015, Kyla at one point won 20-straight matches and helped lead the team to a fourth place finish at the NCAA Division III Tennis Championships.
While her success on the court is impressive, what's astounding is that Kyla has played throughout college and part of her high school career with lupus, a chronic, non-contagious, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body) and carries symptoms such as fevers, joint pain and a lack of energy. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates 1.5 million Americans have lupus and around 16,000 new cases are reported annually. What's caused particular discomfort for Kyla are aching fingers that lead to the aforementioned hand-clenching and can make it difficult every once in a while to hold a tennis racquet for a long match.
It wasn't until her junior year of high school that she found out she had lupus, after suffering through particularly bad joint pain and an extremely high fever. The joint pain was so bad that one day she couldn't get out of bed.
"At the time I thought, 'I'm a tennis player, joint pain is normal and it [exhaustion and joint pain] is something that happens because I play a lot'," Kyla said.
After not being able to get out of bed, Kyla paid her doctor a visit and that was when she was diagnosed with lupus. An altered diet – no gluten and refined sugar – along with mild medication has helped Kyla function at an extremely high level on the court and in the classroom as an engineering student at Harvey Mudd College. Kyla estimates that she spends 6-7 hours per day on academics and 2-3 hours of tennis (excluding off days and match days).
Despite being a physically draining sport, there is reason to believe that playing tennis may actually help Kyla function at a higher level, since exercise is known to be extremely important in managing lupus according to The Lupus Foundation of America. On the court, Scott has played at such a high level (never having missed a practice or match) that Coach Schwarz didn't know she had lupus until the summer after her freshman season when she was working a tennis camp on campus and just mentioned it to him in an offhand comment.
"I don't even think she realized that I didn't know because to her, it's just a part of her life and it's not a big deal and I don't think she wants to be looked at any differently than anyone else," Schwarz said. It's probably good for those who have [lupus] to know that you can completely function as a high-level athlete and student without anyone even knowing. I don't think her teammates knew and I don't know if all of her teammates know now. I haven't treated her any differently before or after."
This season in dual matches (through April 22), Kyla has posted a 12-5 singles record, primarily at the No. 4 position and a 15-4 mark at a variety of doubles positions, all this despite not playing in a ton of junior tennis tournaments. At the time, she questioned whether or not she wanted to continue playing tennis after high school. Now that she is playing in college, she wouldn't want it any other way.
"I love all of it. I had a time during juniors where I didn't really love playing tennis and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to continue playing tennis, but that has changed since coming to college and being a part of this really close knit, really hard working team," Kyla said. "Everyone gives all of their effort every time we step on the court. It's really inspiring to be a part of."
If anyone embodies that inspirational, hard-working attitude on the court, in the classroom or through life's adversity, it's Kyla Scott.
By Chris Watts
Director of Athletics Communication
Claremont McKenna College
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