Staff Writer
The issue of whether substances should be used to enhance athletic performance has muscled its way onto the DMACC campus.
Fundamental differences exist around the college regarding the use of substances such as protein, creatine, pre-workout powders and pills, testosterone boosters, pro-hormones, human growth hormones and steroids to improve sports performance.
DMACC’s policy is governed by the National Junior College Athletic Association, which authorizes testing for banned substances, such as steroids. The school does not regulate performance-enhancing drugs that are not on the banned list.
Boone Campus Provost Tom Lee said, “Plain and simple I don’t think they should be used.”
The pressure to be an elite athlete has created a vacuum effect on athletes from high school to the pros sucking some of them into the belief that without these substances they will not be elite. Professional athletes who have faced the consequences of taking PEDs include Barry Bonds in baseball, Jessica Hardy in swimming, Andre Agassi in tennis, Lance Armstrong in cycling, Rebekah Brunson in basketball, Brian Cushing in football, and Nick Diaz in mixed martial arts.
The media attention from the fall of these sports idols has given rise to the glaring reality that faces today’s athletes: You train for a sport that gives you fame and fortune, but if you’re not using PEDs, you will be passed by. Imagine spending 10, 12 or 15 years training for a sport, excelling and then the athlete next to you starts to catch you due to using PEDs.
Kyle Hanna, head baseball coach, spoke to the temptation of the player. “Stop and think to yourself if someone came up to you right now and said ‘hey, I’ll give you $2 million if you do a cycle of anabolic steroids,’ you’d think really long and hard about it. It’s easy for anybody to say ‘oh no I’d never cheat’ but that’s a lot of money. And if you’re talking about the guy who’s a year away from retirement or if he takes this stuff, he’s five years away from retirement. You’re talking $50 to $100 million that those guys are getting over that amount of time.” The Boone YMCA bans all substances from its weight room because of the abuse of pre workout supplements by high school kids.
Makayla Brinkley, the senior program director of the Boone YMCA said, “Unfortunately we have a lot of high school students that are misusing different types of substances and they are hurting themselves and their bodies. They are destroying their liver.”
Brinkley said the Y set its policy to protect itself and its members. “Unfortunately we were having a lot of pills coming into the facility and the pills were being spilled, and we cannot have our other members, the younger members, picking those up as that could be potentially life threatening.”
The stance on PEDs around DMACC is not as clear-cut.
Eric Sellers, a student and user of pre-workouts and creatine, said, “Real steroids I would say are bad or illegal, but certain other ones like the ones that help with recovery or healing, I don’t think that’s wrong.”
Hanna stated his feelings on PEDs: “I know there’re guys that take the pre-workout stuff and the protein stuff. I’m OK with that as long as it’s…I mean if it’s got a name like Rage Triple X D, or something like that, it’s probably not good for you.”
Jocelyn Anderson, an assistant women’s basketball coach, said she doesn’t see an issue with proteins. “Proteins I think are great if you are in athletics and you need to build a little more muscle. I think there’s nothing wrong with that, but anything above that I think there is a problem.”
DMACC Athletic Director Orv Salmon said, “I think that anything that gives you an unfair advantage is inappropriate.”
There is a belief that the products could be damaging to the individual both in the long and short-term. The FDA does not regulate a lot of the products such as pre-workouts, HGH or until recently pro-growth hormones so the player can make the call without legal ramification.