When Parenting and Sports Goes Wrong

My wife called me this morning to tell me about a story she watched on "Good Morning American". This story was about a father who gave his son a cocktail of performance enhancing drugs as early as the age of 13 to aid in his son's persuit of being a champion speed skater.

As a new parent myself I can't wait for my daughter to participate in sports. Both my wife and myself both grew up on participating in Athletics and being a part of a team. We both agree that the experiences we had while playing sports growing up help shape us into who we are. We can't wait for our daughter to have those same experiences.

Now, I have to be honest when I say that I can't wait to share with my daughter everything I have learned about performance enhancement. We all think our children have the potential to get college scholarships, be a champion, make it to the pros, etc. But, there are healthy and non healthy ways to go about it.

Here at Ullucci Sports Medicine I work with many youth athletes and some of them want to be here and some are here because of pressure from Mom and Dad. But, What I notice is that most of these athletes are over training and most of them don't have the time to be a kid. Now, I fully understand that to excel at a sport it takes hours of dedication and practice. But, kids these days are participating in the same sport year round. There is no diversity and no "off season". When people think about rest they think of a negative impact on training. But, it should be though of as a positive impact. If you coach or if you are a parent think about how much time you put into focusing on rest. Not much time. Coaches you probably think 4 and 5 times as much on what to do in practice than what you instruct the kids to do when they are not practicing or on a off day. Think about it do you focus on rest and what to do on a day off at all?

Rest or Off season should be viewed as a period of Active Rest. Even on days off active rest should be emphisised. Time off or an offseason athletes need to be active. They should go for a easy jog or play a different sport. For example if you are a soccer player. Instead of spending your off day working on foot skills or going for a distance run to stay in shape. Play some basketball or go for a swim. This will work other muscles and help you from falling into a rut of over training.

Now, what does this have to do with the dad who gave his child performance enhancing drugs. Simple, RECOVERY!!!! Young athletes don't take the time to recover. They just go and go and go. We have to remember they are YOUNG ATHLETES not professionals. They are going to school, doing homework, doing stuff around the house, and some may even hold a part time job. Add thoses stresses with the practice and training time. When do they sleep and when do they recover. Burnout hits many athletes when they reach high school and this can have a negative impact on their whole life not just there life as an athlete. These athletes will look to rebel. They will lose intrest in not just their sports but in school, socializing and etc. They become withdrawwn and can show signs of depression. Think about what got you involved in sports as a kid. It was fun, it was to be part of a team, and it was how you built confidence in yourself. As a parent or coach you may not outwardly pressure your kids to win or get a scholarship or be the best. But, kids are not dumb they have instincts that you and I have lost. They read people extremely well. So they will sense the need to win they will sense the need to be the best. A quote by Paul Brown the former coach of the Cleveland Browns was this:

"You can learn a line from winning and a book from losing."

As a coach and a parent it is your responsibility to teach kids the life lessons from athletic because they won't understand some of their feelings. Be a guide to them. Don't push your feelings or your needs on them. Help them understand that losing is a disapointment. Teach them that winning is great success and that it shows that good things come from hard work. Help them learn that sometimes you can work hard and prepare well but sometimes you just fall short and that is ok as long as you gave your very best. These are just some of the lessons to be learned from athletics. Athletics are supposed to build character not destroy it.

I think about this family and how this father has destroyed this family and this young athlete's future in his sport. It is just a terrible sign of were we are heading as a society. To learn more about this story this is the link: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/ESPNSports/story?id=4211036&page=1

Hot Topic: The Mitchell Report Part I

The Mitchell Report has been on every major news outlet. It has been on ESPN. It is all the rage on sports talk radio. But, what exactly is the Mitchell Report. Well officially it is the "Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball". It is my hope to bring my educated opinion upon this document and shed some light into it and what it means, not only to baseball but for all of Athletics. It is my hope that Baseball and all sports can learn from this and we can get back to a level playing field where Athletes are clean and Athletic feats are honest.



The Mitchell Report was released last Thursday at 2pm. It is 409 pages long and I will break it down over a series of posts. At first glance my opinion of the Mitchell Report is that it is a very flawed document. For what is supposed to be an independent investigation in to Performance Enhancing Drugs or PEDs by Baseball Players how can it be independent when the guy running it is on the Board of Directors of one of the teams in MLB. Senator Mitchell is a Board member for the Boston Red Sox. So I ask how can something be independent when this is the case. Also, I am not very happy with the fact that players names were released. I don't see how this is going to help solve the problem. If anything I think it glorifies the use of PEDs because kids look up to these Athletes. I just hope that because Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are linked to PEDs that young athletes view PEDs as the way to the Majors.



In beginning the document the first section goes over the purpose of the document. Again, I don't see how it is an independent investigation because of my explanation above. Also, it is only an investigation between 2002 and 2006. The 2002 Agreement between the MLB owners and the Players association initiated the MLB Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Basically this was the first time that PEDs were tested for and banned by MLB. But, everyone knows that the game of Baseball was infiltrated by PEDs way before 2002. Bud Selig the Commissioner of Baseball did give Senator Mitchell the freedom to investigate out side the 2002 to 2006 time period. But, it was only if it was deemed necessary.


To sum up the opening to section II PEDs are dangerous to ones health, Pro Athletes who use PEDs are a bad role model for youths, MLB Players who use PEDs and it is rumored is a blackeye for MLB, and finally it is unfair for those who don't use PEDs.

Mitchell Breaks down the the effects and side effects of Anabolic Steroids very nicely from page 5 to of page 17. I think that every coach, athlete, and parent should read his synopsis of the effects of steroids and Human Growth Hormone. It is laid out simply and it is very easy to understand. He describes how Steroids aid in Muscle Growth and Recovery from workouts and why this would benefit an athlete. Then he breaks down the side effects. Basically Steroids effect every system of the human body. lets just say increase risk of psychiatric problems, Cardiovascular problems, Liver Damage, Stunted growth in youths, risk of tendon tears, and last but not least it can damage the reproductive organs. When he describes HGH he indicates how it is not that much of a performance enhancer. But, that it aids in recovery. Also, the side effects of HGH use is laid out again in very plain and easy to understand english. Mitchell explains the main attraction to HGH for athletes is that it is relatively undetectable by conventional methods of testing and that it aids in recovery and repair from injury. Like steroids there are severe side effects. Some of them are as follows: gigantism, cancer, impotence in men, cardiomyopothy, arthritis, and hypothyroidism.

In closing section II the Mitchell Report discusses in detail how the use of PEDs is considered by the office of the commissioner for MLB as Cheating. It also talks about how the impact of the use of PEDs by MLB players effects the use of PEDs by youths. An example of Mark McGwire using Androstenedione in 1998 when he was trying to break Roger Marris' Home Run record for a season. Sales of that supplement sky rocketed by 1000% after it was proven that McGwire had used it. The sales increased even though it was well documented that there were health risks associated with its use.


There will certainly be more on this topic from me. Stay tuned for more.

HOT TOPIC: With More to Come

I could not help but put up a quick post on this subject. It seems that Marc Ecko, a fashion designer with an affinity with sports, has purchased Barry Bond's 756the home run ball and is putting its fate up to a vote on the Internet. Visit the website http://www.www.vote756.com/ to see for yourself and vote what you think should be done with the ball. Mr. Ecko makes a comment on the site that really intrigued me into today's perception of performance enhancement via illegal means (i.e. Steroids, HGH, etc.) His quote is "The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling." It is my opinion that the seeking performance enhancement via illegal means is not a new thing in sports and it goes deeper than just deciding on staying natural or not. Personally I think seeking an edge is human nature. Coupling that with the competitive drive that most athletes have and the amount of money these athletes can make it makes seeking an edge that much more important. To find the answer to Mr Ecko's question you have to look outside sports. Look at how in everyday life people always look to find the edge and do so using questionable means and sometimes illegal means. Take it one step further and look at yourself and how you seek an edge using questionable and sometimes illegal means. When was the last time you made a U-turn illegally, or turned Left when there is a no Left turn allowed. That is seeking an edge do to some necessity you have. Whether it be that you are running late or don't know where you are going it is common practice for everyday people to seek an edge driving by using questionable and sometimes illegal driving tactics. So is it so hard to believe that athletes these days are forced into those same dilemmas on a much more different scale but it all comes down the the human nature of seeking an edge. Hopefully most athletes can take the moral high ground and make the choice to stay natural and seek other means to get the edge. But, unfortunately I believe that most are not and almost forced into using these questionable and illegal means to get their edge. Case in point is Rodney Harrison a Defensive Back for the New England Patriots. He is currently sitting out four games for violation of the NFL substance abuse policy for admitting using Human Growth Hormone. His reasons were that he was trying to get over injuries and remain in the game. Now we all know Rodney never would have admitted this. But, he was caught, so the truth comes out. With today's lucrative contracts for professional athletes staying in the game means so much more than what it meant just twenty years ago. With Millions riding on incentives and bonuses these athletes morals are tested. But, most times I think human nature wins out and Athletes seek the edge. Unfortunately the edge usually means performance enhancement drugs.

More to come on this topic. Also, for your information I voted to send the ball to the hall of fame. Personally, I think history is the best judge of how Barry Bond's and his tactics on his way to being the home run king. History can be damning and it can be lauding. Lets allow history and public perception decide not an Internet poll.