A Message From the Executive Director …

Message From the Executive Director …

While the educational benefits associated with participation in interscholastic athletics remains the primary reason for school-based sports, the physical benefits of participation rank a close second. Yet, it seems every day a new study is released showing an increase in obesity among school-age individuals and the resulting life-long implications of poor physical health.

Years ago, Bernie Saggau, then executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, blazed a trail when he hired the first state high school association staff member to serve as wellness director. In that regard, Iowa has been a leader nationally. That staff member, Alan Beste, has served the health-related issues of both Iowa boys and girls for nearly 18 years now, and continues to do so despite other administrative duties added to his plate along the way.

Then, a few years later I was sitting in a planning meeting for the Iowa Games when retired Governor Robert Ray introduced the concept of what has become Lighten-Up-Iowa. Nearly 100,000 individuals, from the very young to the very old, lost weight last year through their participation in this program. In fact, Jim Hallihan, executive director of the Iowa Games, is bringing Lighten-Up-Iowa national, with Lighten-Up-America set to debut in the next year. Again, Iowa has led the way in addressing the health interests of its citizens.

Now, the state of New Jersey is being credited as a leader by initiating random drug testing of selected students at its state championship events. Texas also has limited drug testing, and several other states are looking at options for implementing testing of students at the high school level for performance enhancing drugs. It seems the revelations of performance enhancing drug use at the professional level in sports such as baseball and track and field, even the Tour de France, has created a bandwagon that many believe we must ride.

The prevailing wisdom is not without merit. For starters, one of the objectives of a state high school athletic association is to protect a level playing field for all participants. The use of performance-enhancing drugs tilts that playing field. But, the primary focus of drug testing at the high school level is to protect the student welfare. For all the damage individuals can physically cause themselves, the use of performance enhancing drugs takes one of the greatest tolls on the long-term physical well being of a student.

Drug tests range in price from $100 per test and up, depending on what is being tested. Statistical data in Iowa shows around four percent of students participating in our programs say they have used performance-enhancing drugs. Over 120,000 students participate in boys and girls interscholastic athletics. The question now is: should Iowa join New Jersey, Texas, and other states who are implementing random drug testing for high school athletes?

There are immediate obstacles to doing so. Iowa law prohibits random drug testing of students without cause. While our legislature could seek to change that law, today, such testing is prohibited.

Then we have to ask if random testing is truly a deterrent? The concept of testing is the threat of being “caught” will prevent students from using performance enhancers. The playing field is kept level, and the users are discouraged from injuring themselves physically because there will be penalties if they are “caught.” But even if you believe that testing is a deterrent, and even if the law were to change to allow such testing, I think we are missing the big picture by this intense focus on performance-enhancing drugs.

There are other drugs that are illegal for adolescents to consume, including alcohol and tobacco. We don’t think of these drugs in the same text as we think of steroids and HGH because the track athletes, major league baseball players, even the bicyclists consume alcohol and tobacco legally. In addition, you can rightfully argue alcohol and tobacco do not “enhance” performance. But, these drugs certainly do cause physical damage to the user. If we are trying to protect the student from him or herself, then let’s focus our energy on batting the drugs that have the most widespread adverse affects on school age students.

The same report that indicated 4% of athletes in Iowa used performance-enhancing drugs also indicated 10% used marijuana, 20% used alcohol and 35% used tobacco. Those drugs are all illegal and are equally damaging to the physical well-being of students. Taking this beyond the playing field, studies have shown that among the general student population, the percentage of students who use alcohol, tobacco and even marijuana nearly doubles.

So, how do we have the most positive impact on the greatest number of students? There will be hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars spent in the next few years to test a small percentage of students nationally in hopes of deterring students from using performance-enhancing drugs. Spend those dollars to reduce alcohol and tobacco use, and the benefits will be felt 10-fold. Whether it is education campaigns or some other plan of action we haven’t even thought of today, I believe we will better serve our students by continuing to pursue ways to reduce or eliminate consumption of illegal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco that have much more widespread use in our schools.

And, while we are at it, what about taking a look at nutrition? Lighten-Up-Iowa has been a great vehicle to address the issue of obesity. We need a vehicle to address the issue of nutrition. With a move in the last 10 years to highly specialized weight training programs and other cardiovascular workouts designed to ensure peak performance, virtually nothing has been done to ensure a student’s nutritional intake has adapted along with their training routine. Studies have shown that 75 percent of females who participate in collegiate athletics had no nutritional information given to them in association with their training or participation in high school athletics. Another 20 percent received very limited information, and only five percent said they felt “fully-informed.”

Everyone has their own theory about the rise in the number of ACL injuries among female athletes. One has to wonder if a lack of proper nutrition has impacted those numbers in our much more intensive training environment.

We need to do a better job in preparing our coaches with nutritional information, and in ensuring our students have access to the nutrients needed to match their training levels. High schools can’t afford sport-based nutritionists like many collegiate athletic programs have access to. With that in mind, the Athletic Union is in the process of developing a partnership with professionals who will produce monthly nutrition tips for students and coaches and attempt to build a “vehicle” to reach our students.

Much of the data in this column should cause some concern. Our students don’t know proper nutrition. They use illegal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco in numbers that, although not growing, are still too large to be ignored. While we must continue to educate about the perils of performance-enhancing drugs, if the long-term interests of student health are in the forefront, I don’t endorse jumping on the “test for performance enhancing drugs” bandwagon at the present time.

As a society, we tend to get caught up in the moment. Right now, steroids, HGH and testosterone are the “drugs of the day.” Yes, they need and deserve attention, even at the interscholastic level. But, we will serve the majority of our students best by not forgetting about the widespread health and wellness issues in front of us while we react to issues that are in today’s spotlight.

Troy Dannen