Effects of steroid rules are uncertain a year later, By: Curtis Pashelka
May 9, 2006, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
They would make him stronger. They would improve his recovery time. They could even increase his bat speed and improve his hand-eye coordination.
Matthias Buhlis, a junior at Freedom High School, knows what steroids could do for him in his quest to become a better baseball player. But he also knows that there's another way.
"I know for a fact that (steroid use) is a problem. I've seen steroids in our locker room," Buhlis said. "It means (athletes) don't have to work as hard, they can be lazy about (trying to improve)."
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the California Interscholastic Federation's unanimous passing of three anti-steroid measures designed to curb the use of performance-enhancing drugs by high school athletes.
The CIF, the state's governing body for high school sports, wanted to get parents more involved, give coaches a broader understanding of performance-enhancing drugs and give athletes a reason to think twice before using them.
A year after their passage, questions remain about whether the new rules will reduce or eliminate steroid use. But to Buhlis, it's a start.
"I like it. It gives scrawny players like me a chance," Buhlis said. "It gives normal kids that actually work hard a chance."
That's exactly the kind of reaction the CIF wanted to hear after it became the first such body in the country to pass anti-steroid legislation.
The new rules require certification for all coaches, which includes steroid education, by Dec. 31, 2008; make parents and players sign a contract banning steroid use; and regulate which dietary supplements are permissible for coaches to distribute to their athletes.
Also, as a condition of membership in the CIF, all schools have to adopt policies that prohibit the use of steroids.
Over the past two years, Freedom athletic director Steve Amaro said he has pulled two athletes into his office who he suspected might be using performance-enhancing substances. The athletes denied using them.
"Legally, that's as far as I can go," Amaro said. "I do think it's a problem, because the statistics are too important to ignore, but I don't know how rampant it is at Freedom."
The CIF took action because of what was perceived to be increased steroid use among high school athletes.
A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said steroid use among high school students more than doubled between 1991 and 2003. More than 6 percent of the 15,000 students surveyed admitted trying steroid pills or injections.
The CIF rules took effect in the fall. Whether they will produce long-term results is anyone's guess.
"Signing a waiver is probably not going to keep kids from using steroids. And I think the CIF knows that," said Shawn McHugh, Dublin athletic director and baseball coach. "But educating coaches and players about the dangers of steroids is a positive step."
The CIF bylaws stop short of actually testing high school athletes for steroids, a measure that was seen as too expensive for schools and districts already strapped for cash. But other states in the past year have decided that testing is worth the cost.
In December, New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey signed a law that introduces random steroid testing for athletes on high school teams that qualify for postseason play. The program begins this fall and is expected to cost $50,000 in the first year.
In January, a pilot program in New Mexico began random testing of student-athletes in four school districts. Eventually, New Mexico officials hope to expand the program statewide. Florida and Texas also have random testing on smaller scales.
Chad Nightingale, Salesian High's athletic director and track and football coach, said he isn't surprised steroid testing has made its way to the prep level.
"You hear a lot about steroid use at the professional and NCAA levels, and more and more you keep hearing about it at the high school level," Nightingale said. "There's a lot of pressure on athletes to get scholarships, and you'd be surprised at the lengths people will go to."
Since the new regulations passed, the CIF has been busy doing what it calls "training trainers." Over the past year, a two-day Learning Training Seminar on how to conduct the Coaching Principals course has been offered to would-be instructors. Basics of the course include identifying one's coaching philosophy, communicating with athletes, and how to train them for energy and muscular fitness without the use of drugs.
These instructors will then be able to teach the Coaching Principals class to coaches, who have to complete it by Dec. 31, 2008. Before the CIF vote last year, it was estimated that 15 percent to 20 percent of California's roughly 70,000 coaches had completed the course.
CIF assistant executive director Roger Blake said 330 instructors have been trained in the past year, with roughly 5,000 coaches having taken the course.
Alhambra cross-country and track coach Tim Bruder has been a certified instructor in the American Sport Education Program for close to 10 years.
So far Bruder has taught the course to about 25 coaches at Alhambra this school year. Over the past six or eight years, he said he has taught the course to about 20 coaches per year on average.
"Even the older coaches who have been around for a while (and) who are like, 'What do we need this for?' end up getting something out of the class," Bruder said. "Even if they don't, the younger coaches take something from it."
Matt Sweeney, Foothill's athletic director, softball coach and longtime football coach, has yet to take the class but can see the positives in it for coaches and athletes. Sweeney's daughters, Danielle and Kelly, play sports at Foothill.
"There's those commercials that say if you can't talk to your kids about drugs, then how will they know what to do? Well, whenever I've heard things about that, I've constantly said to my daughters, 'I hate (drugs),'" Sweeney said. "The more communication you can have about it, the better off everyone will be.
"You've seen our football teams. I don't know if there's guys on (steroids). We've got a bunch of peashooters. You hear rumors and you talk to kids that have big changes, but there's so much supplemental stuff like creatine, you don't know what's going on."
