Reflective blog post - Sports drugs tempt teens

One in 12 interviewed in an Australian study conducted for the World Anti-Doping Agency said they intended to use drugs to lift their performance, and many others might use them but were undecided. Do you think this is an ethical problem? Why or why not? How can a HPSM organisation best education their athletes on drug enhancement in sport?

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/sports-drugs-tempt-teens-20131004-2uzvx.html#ixzz2iJbiMQP8

The article starts off fairly misleadingly, stating “an alarmingly high number of children would dope”. 34 children out of 436 (7.8%) is not really alarming. If studies were conducted and this trend continued over the entire population it still wouldn’t be “alarmingly high”.

I think the bigger issue uncovered by this study is the number of children that appear to have the makings of sociopathic tendencies as discovered by their answers and justifications towards doping in sport. This lends to the question; do these kids only have this moral issue towards sport, or do they display this towards all aspects in their lives?

In another unit I am currently enrolled in, I have read many journal articles, newspaper articles and opinion pieces on the subject of doping in sport. Personally, I have held my views on doping in sport for quite a long time, that it is inherently unsafe (due to the black market nature of it created by societies attempts at strict regulation and those trying to fly under the radar) and that it destroys the spirit of sport.

Doping in sport is an ethical problem but one not as clear cut as we all may think it to be. In a sport such as cycling, the list of those who ride clean is shorter than those who use PED’s (especially if you take into account all those implicated but not convicted of their use). Doping has existed in cycling forever and the general catch phrase, and one used by Lance Armstrong, is that “everyone one does it, so it is just leveling the playing field” and “it is impossible to win the Tour de France if you are not doping” – although I believe Cadel Evans would have to disagree with this.

I have read parts of USADA’s report against Lance and his use of doping measures was not at all the worst part of this whole saga. It was his witness intimidation, evidence tampering, falsifying affidavits, suing those who publically called him out on his doping that really stuck out as the worst part of all. It was his Godfather and pit bull like involvement in his doping empire/enterprise that made his fall from grace that much harder. Lance Armstrong’s actions also were inherently sociopathic and this is where we need to find out which path our future athletes are going to head down.

One article I read made me sit and evaluate my long held beliefs on doping in sport and helped me to see further into the issue. Doping in sport is inherently spurred on by a societal hypocrisy and the commercialisation of sport. Spectators want athletes to perform faster, stronger, more explosively – but there is the problem of when natural sports performance catches up with evolution. Humans can only perform so well and sports science can only assist this up to a point naturally, whilst the crowd’s expectations continue to grow. The commercialisation of sport is another big catalyst for doping. As prize money soars and the winning margin between first and second continues to get closer, the allure of doping is inevitable, and some take the chance.

This then begs further questions; Do these athletes deserve the payouts they are receiving? How do we adjust the system so that doping is better regulated and safer? (because we all know it will continually exist throughout sport).

The money currently spent on digging up past doping offences would be better spent on preventing future ones, or at the very least educating our future athletes on all the risks associated with doping and teaching them how to more morally weigh up the risk - benefit ratio and to focus on the better extrinsic and intrinsic motivators which pushed them into sport in the first place.

A high performance sports manager and organisations job is extremely complex and the added issue of steering an athlete away from illegal sports doping is tricky and sometimes an impossible task. Education programs need to focus on the health risks associated with doping especially when it is conducted off site and under the radar. Focusing and athlete on the positive intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for competing in the sport is equally as essential to educating them on the issues in doping. Helping them discover how to compete, win and enjoy the sport without the need for doping will help to keep them physically, mentally and emotionally healthy.