By AJ Brown | Staff writer
Ryan Braun, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Shawn Merriman, and more have been either caught or been under investigation for using PEDS (performance enhancing drugs) in sports. The crackdowns on PEDS have become more of an issue since the early 2000’s when many big homerun sluggers were caught using PEDS.
But these events aren’t limited to just the professional players. What about the common high school athlete? The everyday kids walking down the hallways? The big time athlete who led your school team to victory? Is he or she using a PED? It is a possibility considering over 700,000 athletes in the United States use steroids and even more have used a PED.
But why are teenagers deciding to use steroids? There are currently 14 million students across the country that play high school sports, but only 420,000 college athletes. That means only one in 33 high school athletes play in college.
“Because of the emphasis on college scholarships and getting scouted at an early age, they (athletes) are trying to get every edge possible,” said Eric Corbett, Indian Trail’s athletic director.
This one in 33 chance is why athletes are taking the risk. The athletes see the advantage they can get from using PEDS and realize that if they use them, they can benefit more than not using them. This year’s Major League Baseball crackdown gave teen athletes plenty to think about. Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun and 19 others were suspended this summer af- ter the MLB investigated a Biogenesis Corporation run by Tony Bosch and found that he gave the athletes steroids and other PEDS.
Every player besides Alex Rodriguez was suspended for the remainder of the season, and Rodriguez has appealed a 211 game suspension after being caught for the second time in his career.
Every young athlete saw this big investigation go down this summer, but what impact did it make? Did it change the way athletes think when decid- ing whether to use illegal PEDS?
“It certainly brought out a lot of attention to it and it will make anyone think twice before using it,” said Mike McKay, the Indian Trail head football coach.
The only problem is that there are many different PEDS, and some are available over the counter in stores. Common drugs. But how should a high school athlete know about these?
“In the WIAA there are policies against PEDS,” said Corbett.
But not a lot of students know the policy or even see it. The student doesn’t look for these policies and puts his or her health at risk. There are so many health problems that can occur down the road from these substances, yet the students — and even a lot of times the parents — put it to the side and ignore it. They act like it doesn’t exist.
“(Athletes) have no idea what it does to their body and how it negatively affects them later in their lives,” says Corbett.
The effect from PEDS can range from common acne to liver damage, and that is just the physical part. Mentally, it can make a person rage at random moments, and for women and men, it can create more cross gender type
features. So how can teen athletes be stopped from using PEDS? First of all, school policies against usage need to be more visible, some students suggest, making an athlete think twice before deciding to use PEDS. Also, more people need to look for warning signs.
“I don’t think I have ever been in the situation when a player was using a PED, but I do know the signs,” said McKay.
Parents also need to be more alert. Some parents may become blind to their child using something that they shouldn’t be. In some cases, it is the parent providing the PED to enhance their child’s performance.
With professional sports programs cracking down, health risks more evident, and other dangerous aspects to PED usage becoming more ap- parent, advocates of athletes playing a clean game are hopeful perfor- mance can return to the time when honest talent and hard work are the main drivers in an athlete’s success.
“You want a level playing field; you want to compete against athletes that are using their natural ability, not some substance,” said Corbett.