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April 2004 Vol.6 No.4   Conference/Workshop Calendar
 Editorial

Drinking, Dope, and Dummies
Robert W. McGowan, Ph.D.

The good ol' days of drunken high school football players are long past for me.  We would pile into the back seat of the ol' Chevy or Buick and hide a case of beer in the trunk under the blanket and head to the drive-in.  We would drink and vomit and laugh at each other until the movie was over.  By then the beer was long gone and for the most part we were sober enough to drive home.  Fun?  Well, I have to admit that we did laugh a lot but there were the usual fights from too many hormones and decreased inhibitions. 

You know now that I think about it there was that time that I almost killed myself and my best friend.  We decided to leave the "safe zone" of the drive-in.  We drove semi-sober a couple of miles from the drive-in to the reservation and downed about half of a fifth of Jim Beam that I had swiped from my dad's liquor cabinet.  We were pretty smug about getting away with the theft.  We sat in that remote spot and downed the bottle....  little did we know that 15 minutes later we were totally incapacitated.  With no inhibition left, we decided it was time to head for town.  I remember to this day (40 years later!!) looking out the front window and being unable to see...so I did the next best thing.  I opened the door and followed the double yellow line.  I was having trouble seeing the line so I used the Braille method.  I reached down keeping my hand steady on the wheel and felt my way seven miles back into town.  As we reached the edge of town my "buddy" suggested that maybe we ought to close the door and drive like we were sober. We were lucky...We hit no-one.  No-one hit us.  We didn't wreck the car...but even the recollection is enough to remind me to never drink again.  

The coach always found out.  He yelled and screamed and made us run and run and run.....but it wasn't that that made me quit drinking.... it was the realization that I could have killed myself and my best friend....and others who might have ventured into our path. 

Bottom Line:  Kids need to understand that intoxicants kill.  They ruin lives....  At Christmas time I received a medallion from Alcoholics Anonymous for 39 years of sobriety.  I am not proud to have found addictions early.  I am not proud of my youthful oat sewing... but I am proud parents and coaches who reach out into the lives of athletes and help them understand the dangers of drug and alcohol use.  I am proud of student athletes who understand addictions and make the changes in their lives. I am grateful for coaches who know about kids who use and step up and do what-ever-it-takes to save their athletes.  Like it or not.... coaches are surrogate parents and need to be firm, fair, and friendly.  I will always be grateful for my coaches who changed my life.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Robert W. McGowan
Coaching Section Editor



 Athletes and Drugs

athletic graphic

Since the 1950s, some athletes have taken anabolic steroids to build muscles and boost their athletic performance. Increasingly, other segments of the population also have been taking these synthetic substances. The Monitoring the Future study, an annual survey of drug abuse among middle and high school students across the country, showed a significant increase from 1998 to 1999 in anabolic steroid abuse among middle schoolers. During the same year, the percentage of 12th-graders who believed that taking these drugs causes "great risk" to health declined from 68 percent to 62 percent.  Learn more about the health risks and research-based programs that are available to help prevent steroid abuse.

Program Objectives:

  • To describe prevalence of problem among different age groupings
  • To identify and describe drugs of abuse among athletes
  • To describe measures used to detect, conceal and prevent drug use among athletes, as well as motives for performance enhancement
  • To provide research based programs for communities to implement at the local level to prevent youth athlete abuse
  • To hear from nationally known athletes how they feel about the issue

For more information about this broadcast visit: http://www.cadca.org/Events/SatelliteBroadcasts/ SatelliteBroadcasts.aspx

Speed Stacks


  Athletes Against Drugs


Athletes Against Drugs

Our mission is -- leveraging national and local athletes, celebrities, and corporate leaders to educate youth to make healthy life decisions.
Our vision is -- to help youth develop life skills for economic opportunities that will change their lives.

Over 300 famous name athletes, all superstar professionals or Olympians, have one thing in common: they form a select group of drug-free role models helping kids lead productive lives.

Kids listen to Athletes Against Drugs' sports celebrity partners - but simply telling kids to say no to drugs isn't enough. We give kids a place to say yes. We offer healthy alternatives, somewhere to go instead of the street, and something to be a part of instead of a gang; AAD gives kids hope.


Digiwalker

 National Association of Athletes Against Drugs
  1. To increase and encourage the creation of National Associations of Athletes Against Drugs.
  2. To attend and report from time to time to all the members of all the activities that have been carried out.
  3. To collect and divulge all the new initiatives and activities of the Association and spread the experiences of the different National Associations.

  4. To train monitors develop special programs among children, youngsters or any other collectivity which would be susceptible to use sport as a preventing, rehabilitating and curing method.

  5. To study, elaborate and carry out projects and specific program research.

  6. To be an ethic reference for the ever increasing sport activities and in the preventive and educative activities as well.

  7. To increase public awareness for cultural activities such as sport and leisure time.

  8. To be an instrument to support prevention programs, treatments and social reintegration related to social margination and drug dependency.

  9. To promote execution of agreements and resolutions of the different international bodies committed to drug dependency prevention.

  10. To collaborate and maintain relations with national and international bodies interested in the same subjects.

  11. To carry out prevention programs adapting them to the new needs of each new acting place.

  12. To strengthen the implication of the International Sport Organizations in the different programs that will be developed.

In short put the "play" back into playing sports for the holidays. When I was growing up in the late 50's and 60's we would hang out at the park and play pick up games.  We made up our own rules and made sure the sides were "even" (Sandlot).  We played until our hands froze or the light faded.  We played in rain, snow, sun... it didn't matter.  We didn't need adults to make us try hard or work until we were exhausted...  We did it 'caused we loved the game.  Maybe we should just let the kids "play" more....

Phi Epsilon Kappa

 Contribute Your Ideas
If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Coaching Section Editors:
 Drugs - Coaches

Coaches Playbook Against Drugs

Key Plays How To Get Your Message Across

The best defense is a good offense. If you want to follow through and keep drugs and alcohol off the playing field and out of your players' lives, here are 10 key plays to help you get your message across.

  1. Encourage participation in athletics by making your team an integral and exciting part of school or community life.
  2. Clearly express your expectation that players will not use drugs
  3. Ensure that your players know the risks of drug use, especially those that affect athletic performance and their future.
  4. Emphasize the benefits of participating in sports, particularly benefits that young people care about, including:
  5. Make sure your players know that drug use among preteens and early teens (ages 11 to 14) is a "fringe" behavior.
  6. Encourage athletes to set personal goals and assist them in making progress toward those goals.
  7. Have older players reinforce the idea that real "cool" kids don't use drugs -- they disapprove of them.
  8. Help young people to develop appropriate decision making skills.
  9. Let players know that they can talk to you about their fears and concerns regarding drug use.
  10. Develop meaningful relationships with the young people you coach.

It's important for coaches to take an active part in their players' lives -- both on and off the field. Positive role models are needed in our children's lives, and coaches have a special opportunity to deliver a powerful and consistent message about the dangers of drugs.

GreenDarrell Green
Defensive Back --
Washington Redskins #28
Six-Time Pro Bowler

Tips for Teens

Tips for Teens: The Truth About Steroids

Slang--Arnolds, Gym Candy, Pumpers, Stackers, Weight Trainers, Juice

Steroids affect your heart. Steroid abuse has been associated with cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. These heart problems can even happen to athletes under the age of 30.

Steroids affect your appearance. In both sexes, steroids can cause male-pattern baldness, cysts, acne, and oily hair and skin.

Steroids affect your mood. Steroids can make you angry and hostile for no reason. There are recorded cases of murder attributed to intense anger from steroid use.

Steroids increase your risk of infection. Sharing needles or using dirty needles to inject steroids puts you at risk for diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

Other slang terms associated with steroid use include:

  • Roid rages--uncontrolled outbursts of anger, frustration, or combativeness that may result from using anabolic steroids.
  • Shotgunning--taking steroids on an inconsistent basis.
  • Stacking--using a combination of two or more anabolic steroids.


Nutripoints

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