Great Article on the Pervasiveness of Steroid Use in Sports

I apologize to readers for not posting the 2nd installment to my Specialization in Youth Sports, Good or Bad article (something I will do late next week), but I came across a piece that references true experts, like Dr. Yesalis, in a discussion regarding steroid use that I thought was good and important to direct attention to. The title of the blog article is PSU Prof Yesalis and "Game of Shadows" authors Williams and Fainaru-Wada on steroid panel at Penn State; Yesalis says 95% of NFL players use HGH and it is from an online blog journal called Steroid Nation.

Part 1: Specialization in Youth Sports, Good or Bad?

I have been debating for a while now on writing an article that focused on the growing trend for athletes to specialize in only one sport. It certainly is a hot topic in high school athletics, especially between coaches, parents, athletic directors, etc., and it definitely can create heated discussions between these parties due, in part, to strong opinions on the subject. I will be writing this article over the next two weeks and dividing it into 3 parts in order to break up its length. Below is part 1.

I would estimate that over the last two or three decades, there has been a definite decrease of the number of young athletes who participate in a variety of sports (usually referred to as the multi-sport athlete), especially at the high school level, and a definite increase in the number of athletes who focus their attention on only one sport. This begs to ask the question, as the title of this article indicates, whether this trend is a good thing or bad.

Competition and Motivation

If you are (or were) an athlete, then you know exactly what the title of this post is all about. For many a competitive athlete just the idea of being able to compete is one of the motivating factors behind why they play sports; they just love the exhilaration of the competitive arena. It is not winning that necessarily drives them, even though competitive athletes hate to lose, but the enjoyment they get out of the challenge competition brings to them. Knowing this simple fact about the competitive athlete can bring great motivational rewards in training when applying this concept to practice sessions. This is true whether it is done by the coach or the athlete themselves.

CNN.com article on “Youth sports drawing more than ever” by Laura Hilgers

In my last blog post The “FUN” in Sports Participation, I make reference to the large number of youngsters involved in sports using figures reported by the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) in their 2000 census. I state in the blog that these numbers, 32 million, are not likely to decrease in the future.

The “FUN” in Sports Participation

Youth sports participation today has become more popular than ever. It is estimated that approximately 10 million high school age students participate in extracurricular athletic programs in the United States. If you take into account all sports participants from age 6 to 18 years of age, the number more than triples to approximately 32 million as reported by the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) in their 2000 census. And based on current trends, it is more than likely that these numbers will not be decreasing anytime soon.

Steroids in Professional Sports and Youth Sports, WHY?

It is in the wake of the Mitchell Report, which sheds light on the pervasive use of performance-enhancing substances (Steroids, HGH, etc.) in professional baseball, that I direct this blog's attention to an article in the Sports Parenting e-magazine titled Denial, Apathy, and Win-at-All-Costs Sports Culture Fuels Steroid Abuse by Bruce Svare, Ph.D, http://www.parentsforgoodsports.org/iPages.tpl?pg=articles/steroidAbuse.

In his article, Dr. Svare provides good insight into the “why” behind steroid use in sports today and suggests an approach that will decrease and deter the risk of their use by young athletes.

What Parents Need to Know About Employing a Performance Enhancement Professional

Before you consider hiring a performance enhancement professional for your sports-minded child you should first ask yourself this question: Why do you want to secure the services of someone to supplement the training your children are receiving from their school or club coaches?

If your answer centers on getting your son or daughter a college scholarship, creating a young Olympian, or even making them the star of their team, then it might be best to reconsider this option. These types of goals need to come from your children themselves, and, in most cases, at latter stages of their sports careers. In addition, it is very important to keep in mind that only a very small percentage of athletes (out of the significant number who participate in sports) will ever reach a level high enough to garner a college scholarship, and an even smaller percentage will gain Olympic status. The odds for the latter are astronomical.

Great Youth Sports Websites #1

While surfing the net I came across several websites that encourage and promote a healthy experience for young athletes. I would recommend that any athlete, parent, or coach involved in youth, high school, and even collegiate sports take a look at what the following sites support. All, in one way or another, seem to have a mission that centers on improving and changing the current trends many see developing in sports today. There is a wealth of knowledge, experience, and information available on most of the websites listed.

Perspective in Youth Sports Today

As a teacher, former coach, National Champion, and two-time All-American (and father of two Division I scholarship athletes), I have been genuinely saddened by the loss of perspective in sports, especially youth sports, and the lack of understanding about how athletic success is achieved. What our young sports enthusiasts should be learning by going through this process and what they are learning are two different things.