Tackling Athlete Doping

By Kelsey Offner

(Edited by Alexandra Tapak)

            “Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd!” The sound of America’s past time can be heard over televisions and radios everywhere with the beginning of the 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. There is electricity in the air as people wait outside the gates of ballparks in anticipation of Opening Day and the chance to watch their favorite teams and players take the field. With the prospect of the new season, many may have forgotten the end of 2013 season Biogenesis debacle in which 14 MLB players, including New York Yankee’s Alex Rodriguez, were suspended for performance-enhancing drug use (Nightengale, 2014). The MLB and MLB Players Association have moved to toughen up anti-doping policies for the 2014 season, announcing longer suspensions for violators and other reforms (Nightengale, 2014). Not only will drug penalties be increased, but the use of Carbon Isotope Mass Spectrometry (IRMS), with at least one sample from every player, will also be added in the attempt to eradicate performance-enhancing drugs (Nightengale, 2014). Players will also be required to provide two urine samples during the season, and the MLB will be conducting 400 random blood collections to detect human growth hormone (Nightengale, 2014).

            The use of performance-enhancing drugs has become a hot topic for many sports professionals and fans. Athletes are constantly put on a pedestal by society and expected to perform at their highest capabilities, causing the pressure to improve through illegal methods to be very strong (Shokri, 2013). Performance-enhancing drugs have been around for years, and it wasn’t until 1986 that The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned such substances (Shokri, 2013). In 1999, the IOC created the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an independent, private law organization that produces anti-doping codes in attempt to harmonize anti-doping regulations globally while ensuring athletes are treated equally by sports bodies and governments regarding anti-doping issues (Shokri, 2013). Since then, WADA has been working with leagues at all levels of competition to rid the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

            Any sport psychology consultant working with elite athletes can expect to work with athletes who at one point or another has, is, or is considering using performance-enhancing drugs. Whether working with a high school athlete or a professional athlete, as a professional it is one’s responsibility to educate that athlete about the effects such substances can have on his or her body, as well as encourage the athlete to educate themselves about the substances they are taking or are considering taking. Unfortunately, performance-enhancing drugs are all-too easy for athletes to acquire, and it is their choice to take those types of drugs. In order to effectively inform players, it is my recommendation that sport psychology professionals be informed about the league’s anti-doping policies and the penalties given for being caught using any performance-enhancing drugs. As a result, sport psychology professionals can develop informed presentations and strategies to help professional athletes gain a full understanding of the psychological, physical, and career consequences of using performance enhancing substances.

References

Nightengale,B. (2014, March 28). MLB toughens drug agreement provisions. USA Today Sports. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/03/28/mlb-toughens-drug-agreement-provisions/7023401/

Shokri, N. (2013). Anti-doping regulation and WADA code. International Sports Law Review Pandektis, 10(1/2), 110-125. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.adler.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=cc30668d-96a8-49f1-ad9f-8dc6c0d1163c%40sessionmgr4003&vid=9&hid=4214