An Amateur Athlete’s Choice

jbevis | Nov 12, 2009 | 0 comments

photo credit: terence_s_jones

Facing the pressures to be the best, an amateur athlete must make a decision whether or not to use performance enhancing drugs. They never receive the glory that is gained by professionals, but they are faced with that same challenge. Without promise of pay, play, or fame, amateur athletes fight for playing time and experience. Being the biggest and best takes work, but some are willing to give it more. Some are willing to risk their health, eligibility, and future to get playing time, whether it on the field, the court, the course, or the water.

Performance enhancing drugs, generally referred to by athletes as steroids, can help an individual go from big to bigger, fast to faster, and strong to stronger.

Monitoring the Future

In a Monitoring the Future study from 2008, 1.5 percent of high school seniors reported having used steroids in the past year. That number was up from the previous year, but down an entire percent from 2004. The reasons for the avoidance of performance enhancers are not necessarily clear. Only 60 percent of those same individuals from the study note seeing a risk in using an enhancing substance. The deterrent may be the system, fear of ineligibility, or disapproval by one’s coaches or peers. The deterrent does not appear to be a fear of the risks.

While illegal enhancers are obviously banned, others are simply controlled by the sanctioning bodies such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, or the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Controlled bans by the NCAA include the use of Human Growth Hormone, amphetamine, testosterone, marijuana, and tamoxifen. And still more remain undiscovered by the ruling bodies of amateur athletes, and therefore are not regulated, such as prohormones. Regardless, nearly half of most high school seniors reported having the ability to obtain enhancers to assist their abilities in their sport during the 2008 study.

Disapproval of Steroids in 12th Graders

Use of Steroids in 12th Graders

Responding to the Risk

The use of performance enhancing drugs involves a great deal of risks. According to the Mayo Clinic, change in behavior including mood swings, increased aggression, and depression, are side effects linked to the use of drugs that increase an athlete’s ability. While many of the enhancers physically increase the individual, they also pose risks to the health in the way of increased risk of high cholesterol, heart attack, stroke, and liver problems. For those using steroids, the reward of possibly gaining an upper hand in competitive sporting events is worth the risks involved.

The NCAA has strict guidelines and rules on the use of performance enhancing drugs by their amateur athletes. Included in the list of banned substances are stimulants, anabolic agents, street drugs, anti-estrogens, diuretics, and many others. The organization also has bans on procedures such as blood doping, local anesthetics, Beta-2 Agonists, and even high levels of caffeine.

Supplements are another option for athletes seeking to gain strength quickly. While the NCAA warns against the use of supplements, they are not specifically banned. They may include a substance that appears on the list of banned substances; therefore, their use comes into question in some specific cases.

If caught with the use of a banned substance, the NCAA has a three-strike rule for athletes. The first offense results in a one game suspension. The second illegal use finding leads to a 1-year suspension. On the third finding, an athlete loses complete eligibility for his or her collegiate career.

Moving into the college competition

Joe King plays football at Butler University as a freshman. He understands the pressures that come about when an athlete enters the collegiate scene.

“Not everyone goes on to play college football. It’s the best of the best that play in college football. You want to be even better,” King said.

Although King doesn’t think enhancers are the answer, he knows the benefit they provide for individuals in his position.

“Seeing the playing field off the bat is what a young athlete wants. It’s their goal. It’s everything they push for,” King said. “So steroids get you one step closer to that.”

Coaching without enhancement

Coach Kurt Guldner of Marian University coaches both women’s soccer and men’s baseball. He hasn’t ever been forced into a steroid issue with an athlete. And he understands the guidelines put forth by overseeing organizations on performance enhances.

What he doesn’t understand is how you can draw a line between the varieties of options available. “Is a baseball player taking five ibuprofen before a game…is that performance enhancing? He wouldn’t be able to play without it. Or is it a soccer player drinking a Red Bull before a game?”

He knows the lines but appreciates the use of language within the standard to set one enhancer apart from another type.

Coach Guldner summarized his view, “You can’t be satisfied. You always need to improve.”

He sees first hand the pressures players are under to focus on the next step. “The pressure of winning is sometimes so great from their youth on up that they want to do whatever they can.”

It’s personal

As a two-sport athlete at the University of Indianapolis, junior Paul Corsaro feels the internal pressures to be the best on the court and the field. “It’s more of a competitive drive. With most people, if they were to try it [steroids] they think it [steroids] would give them a competitive advantage, “ the football and basketball starter explained. “It’s all about trying to give yourself that advantage. It’s an inner drive to push yourself.”

As an athlete sees the negative side of things, he or she may change their tune about the positives of enhancement. Corsaro doesn’t only see the loss of eligibility as a damaging repercussion. “”Number one it’s going to mess with your head. Athletics is so much more about a mental state than a physical state.”

By the numbers

Fewer athletes are using steroids and other enhancements than they were before. The tighter regulation on these issues is definitely a deterrent. Also standing in the way are the opinions of other athletes. King, Corsaro, and Coach Guldner all consider the use of these substances to be cheating by an athlete.

Some athletes have found ways around the system. Many players think that if a substance is not yet banned, there is no wrong is using it. Corsaro agrees.

“If you’re following the rules, do what you have to do.”

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