The long and arduous road from high school athletics to professional sports is a journey that consumes the mind of every young athlete at least once in a lifetime.
Days are filled with workouts and practices, while nights are spent dreaming about championships and competitive glory.
The steps young athletes take in the formative years are crucial to their future success. An adolescent athlete undoubtedly faces many choices in high school, but one option is getting less attention than it should.
Steroid use in high school athletics has been a growing epidemic for several years, yet coaches, athletics directors and parents have neglected the issue time and time again.
According to a study conducted by Creative Research Services, 80 percent of today's youth said they had never had a conversation with their parents about steroids or supplements. Nearly half of the parents surveyed said they did not have enough information about the dangers of steroids. Half of the parents and 70 percent of the adolescents said they could not identify any negative side effects of using supplements or steroids.
A Blue Cross and Blue Shield survey found that the increase in the use of steroids among young people is a recent occurrence. Nearly a million children ages 12 to 17 use supplements, which is surprising, given the fact that a 1999 study failed to find supplement or steroid use among children under the age of 14.
Anabolic steroids were placed under the Controlled Substances Act in 1991 in response to reports of increased use and harmful long-term effects. The CSA defines anabolic steroids as "any drug or hormonal substance chemically and pharmacologically related to testosterone that promotes muscle growth."
Steroids are used medicinally to treat disorders that call for the replacement of the testosterone hormone. When steroids are used in conjunction with exercise, they have been proven to generate muscle growth.
Possible side effects of long-term steroid use include elevated blood pressure, high cholesterol, genitalia dysfunction and severe acne. Several of these effects are irreversible, and some doctors say an adolescent body is not equipped to adapt to the hormonal overload.
But high school students are not being tested.
The environment high schools present is creating a demand for illegal steroids that school boards haven't had to deal with in the past. Harold Slemmer, executive director of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, said steroid use has become an issue in high schools, but gave no indication that he plans to begin testing student-athletes.
"From our perspective, it's up to the high schools and individual school boards," he said.
Slemmer renounced the use of steroids, blaming the epidemic on a diseased sporting world that has diluted the teen's perception of winning and competition.
"(The AIA) does not encourage steroids, and they shouldn't have any part in high school sports," Slemmer said. "(Steroids) are problematic, but they are more of a symptom of a sports culture that wants to be the best at any cost."
The general public agrees that steroids are dangerous and testing in high schools could be beneficial. The snag occurs in the debate over the privacy of minors.
In June, the Supreme Court upheld an Oklahoma high school's decision to administer drug tests to students involved in extracurricular activities. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority, saying he felt "testing students who participate in extracurricular activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug use."
The growing push for testing in high schools could eventually help curb the use of steroids and other illicit drugs, but for now, the problem is creating other hazards in classrooms. One symptom of steroid use is commonly known as "roid-rage." The propensity toward violence has been well documented, but a frightening thought is the high percentage of roid-rage murders.
The New York Times reported in November 1999 that former Mr. Universe, Bertil Fox, was incarcerated for the murder of his girlfriend and her mother. Gordon Kimbrough, a body builder, also is serving 27 years to life for the killing of his fiancée in an unrelated case. An article published by The Medical Journal of Australia documented several brutal murders directly involved with roid-rage and found 20 murders in the United States that were attributed to roid-rage.
The dangers of testosterone-charged teens in high school classrooms should prompt school boards across the country to start testing student-athletes. School boards want to keep their students safe, but still neglect to test for a substance that has proven to be extremely dangerous.
Despite the ever-growing list of dangers that steroids present, high school athletes are still taking the risk by continually using them. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration found that as many as 12 percent of male high school athletes are using steroids or supplements.
The question that many people are asking is simple. Why?
"Kids get these dreams in their heads, and I can see how they would take that risk," Tempe Marcos de Niza High School boys basketball head coach David Stark said. "(Success) can be achieved with hard work alone. High school athletics is bigger than winning championships."
Although the problem has caught the nation's attention with recent knowledge of steroid use among professional athletes, citizens on a smaller scale are ignoring the problem.
Flagstaff High School's Craig Holland has coached football at the high school, collegiate and professional level during his storied career. Holland remembers encountering a player that was cut from a professional team for steroid suspicion.
"The player was benching 500 pounds, and the next day he was cut for an excessive heart rate," Holland said. "High school use is here because of the individual's drive for goals and scholarships. It's also possibly driven by parents."
The amount of money spent on collegiate scholarships each year brings another hook in the steroid issue. ASU senior guard Brandon Goldman recognizes the temptation of steroid use.
"Since there's no sanctioning in high schools, a lot of guys get started then," Goldman said. "A lot of guys get scholarships (while using steroids in high school) and then stop when they get to college."
If as many as 12 percent of male high school athletes have used steroids, there could be as many as seven former users on the 60-man ASU football team. Using the same formula, 118 players in the Pac-10 could have used steroids in high school. That means that nearly $156,340 scholarships could be going to players who have or are using steroids.
Given the obvious dangers associated with steroids, athletes are constantly tested at both the collegiate and professional levels. Former ASU pitcher Drew Friedberg vividly recalls the testing.
"I can remember being tested up to five times a year," Friedberg said. "I don't see why (high school students) wouldn't use steroids. They aren't getting tested."
Former ASU fullback Jeff Paulk has answered questions about steroids throughout his career. He affirmed Friedberg's statements concerning NCAA athletics.
"(Steroid use) is impossible in the NFL and NCAA," Paulk said. "I've been tested a lot. When you are the strongest player at ASU, people are going to ask questions."
Even though players are subject to being tested for steroids, high school athletes are ignored. Ron Davini, who has coached baseball at Tempe Corona del Sol High School for the past 26 years, has noticed the growing use of steroids and the silence surrounding the issue.
"People are putting blinders on the issue," Davini said. "High school kids should be tested. If you have a good diet and workout, you shouldn't need steroids."
One of the contributing factors to the growing market for steroids in high schools is the success of the athletes using them. High school teams can be catapulted from a conference doormat to a championship contender on the strength of just one player's success.
A head coach can become legendary by winning a state championship. When a high school athlete starts succeeding above standards, coaches and players become hesitant to push the issue because of their own personal agendas.
High school athletics is a major business in today's society. Region tournaments are now garnering corporate sponsorships, evidenced by the fact that the Valley is home to the Class 4A Wells Fargo Region. After the national bank bought the rights to the Northwest High School Region, games are played in connection to the corporate label.
Because of increasing investment, it's only a matter of time before coaches' salaries skyrocket. Given the increasing amount of money generated in high school athletics, it is much easier for a coach, school, district or state to ignore players' unnatural success.
Friedberg, who now plays for a Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, recognizes the phenomenon of silence in Major League Baseball.
"Professional testing is poorly monitored," Friedberg said. "It's really easy for guys to get around because managers are only focusing on the numbers the players are putting up."
However, coaches and athletics directors are saying all the right things when questioned about steroids. Corona athletics director Dan Nero, who also blames the problem on sports culture, said it needs to be corrected.
"(Steroids) are there. No one can say it's not there," he said. "The problem is a mirror image of society. Whenever there is competition, there will be some that think they need something extra."
Besides the growing steroid problem, there are increasing numbers of reports indicating that teens are using legal supplements at an alarming rate.
One of the main ingredients in most forms of muscle supplements or weight-loss supplements is the drug ephedrine. The stimulant herb uses the nervous system to elevate blood pressure and increase heart rate. The risks include nerve damage, insomnia, heart attack and even death.
Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Corey Stringer died last year after collapsing on a practice field. Stringer's death was later attributed to, among other things, the use of ephedrine.
The incident and other college football deaths led both the NCAA and NFL to begin testing for ephedrine. The professional sports world has identified the dangers of ephedrine, so why haven't high schools?
The answer reverts back to the student's right to privacy. School districts are hesitant to test the legal boundaries. But the Supreme Court ruling supports the obligation that schools have to provide safety for students.
Ephedrine is legal, but each label carries a warning containing the risks. Many of these warning labels also have lines that read, "Not for use by individuals under the age of 18."
The lives of millions of teenagers are in danger because school districts are afraid to approach these sensitive issues. The public's knowledge of steroids and supplements is growing, but so must the outcry for something to change.
Citizens can write letters to editors and give speeches at school board meetings. Parents can talk to coaches and their children. The knowledge of the dangers of steroid and supplement use will be what eventually breaks the shroud of secrecy surrounding the issue.
The dreams of all young athletes must be kept safe and untainted. The lessons learned in competition of any sort are critical to a young person's development, and until there is change, those that teens learn may be the wrong ones.
Reach the reporter at cameron@eickmeyer.asu.edu.
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BY THE NUMBERS |
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80 Percentage of today's youth that said they had never had a conversation with their parents about steroids or supplements, according to a study conducted by Creative Research Services. |
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26 Number of states that have considered, proposed or enacted control of the energy-boosting drug ephedrine, a stimulant that increases heart rate. |
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20 Number of murders in the United States that were attributed to roid-rage, according to The Medical Journal of Australia. |
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5 Number of Supreme Court justices who voted last June in favor of an Oklahoma high school's decision to administer drug tests to students involved in extracurricular activities. |
