Just say no' not good enough

Top triathlete Dominique Donner laughs when I ask her about drug education programmes and coaches' involvement among South Africa's triathletes.

"I haven't had a coach since 1993," says Donner. And she's not alone in this. So how does she stay informed?

"The last time I was tested (15 December 2002) I was handed a booklet from Nocsa about drugs as I was leaving. That's about it. I'm an old piece of biltong (read 'mature athlete') so I know what's going on, but there are so many younger people out there who don't have a clue..."

The high-profile federations are doing more. The Sports Science Institute has designed a 'life skills' programme, which they are rolling out to most of the sports federations, including the South African Rugby Football Union and the South African Football Association.

The United Cricket Board put Herschelle Gibbs through a version of the programme - with Morné du Plessis alongside as his mentor - after he was busted for smoking dagga.

Project manager Jill Taylor of the Institute says the programme will also be adopted by the various sports academies throughout the country, such as the Plascon Cricket Academy. The programme guide called 'Winning the Game of Life' will be published in April.

Increasingly, the focus is shifting towards schools because that's often where the patterns for drug use are established. With this in mind, the South African Institute for Drug-free Sport (SAIDS) approached Bridges Drug & Alcohol Programme to put together a strategy document for tackling drugs in the schools.

Bridges director Sarah Fisher says: "We were asked to develop a programme specifically around sports drugs, but after careful consideration decided that we couldn't overlook the other drugs, both illegal and legal.

Super-achievers, such as top athletes in school, can be a high risk for addiction.

"We chose to look at it as a behavioural and a health issue. Most people tend to work on the principle that if it's legal it's OK. The tradition at many schools actively encourages the First XV to drink to celebrate the game, yet frown on the 'druggies' - the ones who do dagga."

Dr John Gasson of Bridges who headed up the schools programme for SAIDS says: "We said yes to SAIDS, but only with the proviso that there's no differentiation between recreational and performance-enhancing drugs.

"We needed to target all the kids in the schools so we asked ourselves what was the most efficient way to do so? We decided to hold workshops with the coaches: we would train the trainers."

Researchers recognise that as soon as a child shows great ability to run with a ball, shoot goals from outside the penalty box or bowl faster than men twice their age, they get hoisted on to the pedestal.

This makes athletes particularly vulnerable, and while not ignoring the sensation-seeking element of drug taking, far more powerful is the need to perform in the macho world of sport. A world filled with an obsessive drive to have 'the edge' on the competition.

"Kids use drugs because they have body-image problems or because of the feel-good stuff around using certain drugs," says Gasson. But the problem is compounded for athletes.

"The kids are getting different messages from coaches - drink three or four Cokes before a game; that sort of thing. Or the 'winning at all costs' philosophy. You get the coaches who say they are anti-drugs but whose covert message to the kids is 'do what it takes to win'."

Gasson admits that some coaches are active pushers. "They will do anything - including provide, or at worst turn a blind eye to, the use of performance-enhancing drugs - for the prestige of a winning team. And for the financial rewards that come with it."

Research conducted by Bridges among Western Cape school children revealed some startling figures. For example, 30% of all primary school children have tried alcohol - that's kids of about 10 or 11 years of age. At high school - kids of 13 years and older - the figure is the same. What's scarier is that 78% of those who experiment with alcohol, continue to use it.

"We don't use scare tactics," says Gasson. "The last 50 years of horror stories has failed. The programme aims to give the kids appropriate, honest information to make their own decisions. We look for addictive pathologies. The gateway philosophy - that one drug can lead to another - has been discounted for years, but there is strong evidence of it being true.

"If you have the potential for addictive pathologies, research proves this. The course revolves around addiction. Performance-enhancing drugs are addictive because they are mood altering. We see the danger as a kid who uses anabolic steroids and doesn't know what he or she is doing."