Much more than wins and losses are on the line in today's world of high school sports. Lives are being altered — even lost — to the use of performance-enhancing substances that have made their way to the corridors and playing fields of the nation's high schools.
In March, the parents of Rob Garibaldi of Petaluma, Calif., and Taylor Hooton of Plano, Texas, told Congress that steroids ultimately led to the death of their sons, each of whom was not only seeking to bulk up but do it in a way that emulated successful professional athletes.
Congress went on to hear from commissioners of the major sports, pro athletes, medical specialists and labor representatives, and the No. 1 concern expressed was steroid use by young athletes.
Sports Weekly wanted to hear directly from this impressionable group considered most at risk and recently conducted a roundtable discussion with athletes from schools in the metropolitan Washington area. Some of the revelations:
• Use of performance-enhancing substances takes place openly in the locker rooms, weight rooms and cafeterias of public and private high schools.
• Coaches, as well as athletes, know what's going on but are often powerless to stop the use of performance enhancers. Some, in fact, are willing to turn a blind eye.
• The pressure to win is enormous. That pressure extends to athletes, who are also competing for college scholarships, coaches and administrators.
• Although the vast majority of student-athletes consider steroid use "cheating" and acknowledge some degree of risk, some remain willing to sacrifice long-term health for short-term benefits.
"Whether it's legal or not, people are going to take them," said Ron, a student-athlete from Maryland whose actual name was changed to protect the indentities of the Sports Weekly discussion participants. "But just because something's legal doesn't mean it's good."
"It gives an unfair advantage to players and takes opportunities away from players who are trying to make it on their own accord," said Ken, a football and baseball player from Northern Virginia.
Making students aware of the risks in using performance enhancers is one thing. The Sports Weekly discussion group agreed unanimously, however, that until tragedy strikes close to home, horror stories and warnings about steroid use and its side effects have little to no impact. Fact is, tragedy can strike close to home.
"There is no doubt in our minds that steroids killed our son," Denise Garibaldi told a House committee, her voice trembling in the hours before Congress heard from major league stars, including Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.
"It really shocked (me) and breaks my heart," Sosa said. "The quicker we can resolve this problem, which is bad for kids (the better)."
Barry Bonds, his name continually linked to suspicion of steroid use, later broached the subject. "It busts me up when they show some teenager who's been on steroids and his life is suddenly messed up," Bonds said. "It's the parent's job to be a parent to that kid. ... I tell my boy, 'if I see you doing steroids, I'll bust you up.' And I mean it."
According to a survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, steroid use among high school students more than doubled between 1991 and 2003. More than 6% of 15,000 students surveyed admitted trying steroid pills or injections. At the same time, less than 4% of the nation's high schools were testing for steroids, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations' survey of athletic directors.
Citing the use of steroids at the professional level, John Stewart, commissioner of the Florida High School Athletic Association asserts, "there has to be a trickle-down effect" at the college and high school level.
Independent surveys estimate 1.5%-2% of Florida's high school athletes might be using steroids. "But against a student base of 215,000 athletes, it's kind of scary to think that possibly 4,000 are at risk out there," Stewart says. "We don't want to see any youngster's life at risk."
Stewart is also concerned by a study that showed not only football players and weightlifters, but females in the 9-to-11-year-old age group using them to enhance their build. "That's scary because it means parents are buying them for kids. And it's a scary thing that society is dictating to kids that young that it's OK to put your health at risk to have a body type that seems so critically important," Stewart says.
Polk County in Florida began testing for recreational drugs in 2004 and, with school board approval, added steroid testing in January. The random steroid tests, administered to three to five athletes per season from each school, cost $105 per test (compared to $18 per student for recreational drugs). Although steroid testing has not been in effect long enough to produce conclusive results, the county is seeking an extension of the program, currently funded through October 2006.
"Athletic directors see it as a positive because they don't see steroid use in sports at their schools," says Audrey Kelley-Fritz, senior manager of Prevention, Health and Wellness for the Polk County school board. "At the same time, they also see the expense of how much it costs. We're just going to watch and see if this proves an effective deterrent."
Other counties are following suit. In May, the Fort Zumwalt School District board in St. Charles County, Mo., approved a voluntary testing program. Also last month, the Texas House approved a bill directing the University Interscholastic League (the state's overseer of interscholastic sports) to develop a comprehensive education program for students, coaches and parents and to survey high school students to gauge the level of anabolic steroid use.
"I think this is an excellent first step to curbing the steroid epidemic in Texas," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Phil King. "The state is telling school districts protecting our kids from steroid abuse must become a priority."
A 2002 study by Texas A&M University estimated up to 42,000 Texas students were abusing steroids. "Most parents would be shocked to learn — as I was — that teenagers use veterinary-grade anabolic steroids from Mexico — drugs made for horses, cattle and pigs," King notes.
Lawmakers in other states have considered bills that would mandate statewide testing programs for student athletes. Opponents argue that money and time could be spent far more efficiently.
California has not opted for testing, but new regulations require parents, players and school officials to sign contracts, promising athletes will avoid steroid use. Coaches will be required to earn a certificate in steroid abuse education by 2008 and are regulated in terms of what dietary supplements they can distribute.
Just before the California Interscholastic Federation voted in favor of the new rules, Frank Marrero of Vacaville recalled how his 19-year-old's addiction to steroids and paranoia led to his suicide by gunshot.
"If coaches, parents and athletes were armed with the right information beforehand, perhaps our son would still be alive," Marrero said.
Do you think it is fair for the high school athletes to use these performance enhancing supplements?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment