Use of supplements a slippery slope for high school athletes, By: Kyle Burch

July 12, 2006

When any athlete mentions using supplements to enhance a workout routine, Loveland High School strength and conditioning coordinator Casey Thomas is quick to speak up.

Thomas, who has been in his profession for nearly 12 years, said, "I always tell kids that under no circumstances that any high school athlete should take any kind of supplement.

"The thing I tell every kid, every time is that the only way to achieve results physically is to put in the time and effort with your diet, your workout and make sure you get enough rest and recovery."

With all of the attention that the steroid scandal in professional sports has been given through the national media the issue has certainly gained perspective at the local level.

While the use of illegal performance-enhancing supplements is not very prevalent at the high school level, the use of legal over-the-counter supplements does take place.

"In 12 years of working in this field, I've never had a student approach me with a serious question about using steroids and what it would do for you," Thomas said.

"But what I do get asked on a very consistent basis are supplement questions."

Thomas says the legal supplement creatine is one of the more popular over-the-counter supplements used by kids at the high school level.

He also says he tells his students to stay away from the use of such supplements, simply for the fact that not enough research has been done to determine the long-range use.

"It's a fairly new supplement and since it's new, no one knows five years down the road what will happen," Thomas said.

Perry Dennehy is a trainer at Sycamore High School and he says that the use of supplements is also discouraged by the Aviator athletic program.

According to Dennehy, different companies have even gone as far as to offer Sycamore the chance to sell different vitamin supplements to its student athletes, an idea they've rejected.

"Our atmosphere in our weight room is that we our going to work hard to get the results, not that we are going to sit there and drink a milkshake to get big," Dennehy said.

"The use of supplements is definitely not promoted or encouraged by any of our staff. However there is always going to be peer pressure when one kid starts using this stuff to get results."

Dennehy says the recent national media attention regarding the use of steroids in athletes can have an effect on a high school age kid, but thinks that high school athletes are usually going to look at others on their level for comparison.

"These kids are most likely going to be comparing their bodies with their classmates or other athletes at their level," Dennehy said.

"They might aspire to be that athlete, but I don't think they are going to comparing themselves to someone on that level."

Moeller athletic director Barry Borman says the exposure to steroid use on the national level can have positive effects for the high school athlete who looks to use supplements to further their development.

"In think for the longest time it's had a bad effect and now this is coming out and we're educating the kids to the danger and crisis this can cause," Borman said.

"It's kind of like smoking was in the '30s and '40s. People did it and it was kind of socially acceptable until everyone became educated on the real harm it could do."

Borman says that Moeller has held "three or four different events," in the past year which have helped to bring awareness to the problem of using supplements and other performance-enhancing drugs.

"Supplements aren't illegal and because of that it's hard to determine how widespread the use is," Borman said.

"I think the use goes beyond the high school athlete. In a way it can be seen as young people with a personal desire to maximize their appearance."

Kings head football coach Andy Olds, a former college athlete himself, says that his experience at the collegiate level is that athletes who use steroids can be picked out from a crowd by their actions.

He also says that if it was a problem at the high school level it would be apparent.

"Us as coaches probably spend more time with these kids then their parents do during the season," Olds said.

"If something were going on, we would see it. Not once in my time as a coach at the high school level has that happened."

Olds also says the negative publicity at the national level can help in the deterrence of the use of supplements and other performance-enhancing drugs. "I think it has a big effect on these kids when they see the negative publicity," Olds said.

"When they see some of these athletes getting cancer of dying prematurely because of their use of steroids, that really gets to them."