Wednesday, August 14, 2013
SPORTS
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FHSAA seeks policy review on performance-enhancing drugs
COMBAT WEAPONS SEMINAR
Special to Halifax Media GAINESVILLE — In an aggressive move to protect teens from the threat of performance-enhancing drugs, the head of the Florida High School Athletic Association asked on Aug. 6 that the organization’s medical policy experts conduct a top-tobottom review of existing policies to determine what additional measures can be enacted to prevent the use of improper substances by high school student-athletes. Dr. Roger Dearing, FHSAA’s executive director, asked the association’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee to conduct a thorough review of existing standards to determine how they can be strengthened to stop the trend of PED use among professional and college athletes from spreading throughout prep sports. Dearing noted that under existing FHSAA sportsmanship bylaws and policies, student-athletes can be suspended from competing if they have used PEDs, but he suggested these prohibitions might be insufficient in light of recent allegations that South Florida high school athletes received PEDs as part of the Biogenesis scandal. “Here is the bottom line for me: As executive director of FHSAA, I believe we must draw a line in the sand against performing-enhancing drugs. School districts simply cannot tolerate coaches who encourage or look the other way when athletes use PEDs,” Dearing said. “Therefore, these coaches cannot be allowed to keep their jobs or have anything to do with young athletes. This is about more than safeguarding fair play — it’s about saving lives.” Dearing was joined by state Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, a former school principal and superintendent who now serves as chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents; and Jennifer Roth Maynard, an assistant professor of family and sports medicine with the Mayo Clinic in
Above, from left, Meladey Collins, Logan Leonard and Anzli Laurel listen to instruction during Saturday’s Combat Weapons seminar at Bonifay Taekwondo USA. Combat Weapons is one of the fastest growing competitions at the ATA tournaments, said Wesley Wing, head instructor and owner of the Bonifay school. At right, Italy Laurel, left, squares off with Erica Daniel, while instructor Amber Wing serves as referee. PHOTOS BY RANDAL SEYLER | The News
Jacksonville and a member of the FHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. “Performance-enhancing drugs pose a very real, very dangerous threat to high school student-athletes, both physically and psychologically,” Montford said. “I commend the FHSAA for being proactive in addressing the challenge presented by coaches, parents and young athletes who want to get ahead by any means possible, whatever the personal cost.” The 15-member Sports Medicine Advisory Committee includes a cross-section of experts from across Florida, including physicians, trainers, former coaches and educators. The committee’s work has led to recent FHSAA policies to better protect young student athletes in the areas of concussions and heat/hydration. Dearing asked the committee to consider the full range of issues related to PEDs, including but not limited to: • whether existing policies and procedures provide sufficient authority for schools to test and discipline studentathletes who may be using banned substances; • the legal, policy and fiscal implications of heightened policies against performance-enhancing drugs; and • whether the FHSAA prohibition against performance-enhancing drugs would be more effective if set out as a standalone policy rather than existing only as a part of a broader policy on sportsmanship. “Most young athletes have no idea the harm that can be caused by performanceenhancing drugs,” Maynard said. “Teenagers are still developing, both physically and mentally, and PEDs have no place in their lives. Whatever the FHSAA can do to stop PEDs from being used by high school student-athletes is a step in the right direction.” A list of members of the FHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee is available at www.fhsaa.org/gov/sportsmed.
WE SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY’S UNIVERSITY
Koleman Brooks, left, strikes at Logan Leonard’s feet, while instructor Amber Wing referees the match.
North Bay Haven making progress toward varsity sports has become a stairway to college athletics and then the pros. We have forgotten the average kid who wants to come out to have fun. “We have kids who never would have come out for sports. I was going around in the spring … saying, ‘Please play baseball. Please play softball.’ We scheduled games, and we didn’t want a negative feeling in the community that we scheduled games and then canceled them. If they didn’t play that sport, I’d say, ‘I don’t care. The coach will teach you how.’ The ones who hung in there, I have great admiration for them. The coaches have high expectations, and (the kids) are working hard at something they never thought
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For 22 years, GFWC Gulf Coast Woman’s Club has supported education by contributing to scholarships throughout our community. We are pleased to provide two scholarships at FSU Panama City as memorials to club members, Joanne Crawford and Jean Cockrell. These scholarships support women, especially those returning to school to complete their education. — Anita Segler President, GFWC Gulf Coast Woman’s Club
THE CAMPAIGN FOR OUR COMMUNITY’S UNIVERSITY Endowment for Tomorrow’s Jobs $0
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To learn how you can support our community’s university, contact Mary Beth Lovingood at (850) 770-2108 or mblovingood@pc.fsu.edu.
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PANAMA CITY — Debbie Funkhouser is a coach at heart, but she’s an athletic director by title. Funkhouser is one of the most respected minds among local volleyball coaches, and she has been an important contributor to the growth of the sport in the area. Now that she’s the athletic director at North Bay Haven Charter Academy, however, she has reluctantly stepped away from the sport to focus on her duties overseeing all sports at the charter school. “For two out of three years, I coached the middle school team,” Funkhouser said. “It’s hard to find volleyball coaches who really are knowledgeable and don’t just want a supplement. I couldn’t find a coach — they play six or seven games and they’re done. I have to say it was hard because (other) teams or coaches need something. It didn’t work. I feel bad because we have a group of girls who are going to be really strong, but they’ll be great. It’s really a good group of kids.” The athletic program at NBH only now is matur-
ing beyond the pupal stage with its first-ever incoming class of 12th-graders. Funkhouser left her post as volleyball coach at Mosley to accept the job as athletic director at NBH in 2010, and she faced a monumental challenge of building the school’s athletics department from the ground up. Coaches had to be hired. Facilities had to be leased. A culture of athletics had to be nurtured and cultivated. It hasn’t been easy. “In the beginning, everyone made the team, and we created a culture you don’t really want in competitive high school athletics,” Funkhouser said. “On the other hand, it made the teams very close. … We want the kids to play for fun. We’ve lost that in high school athletics. High school athletics
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By JASON SHOOT
747-5069 |@PCNHJasonShoot jshoot@pcnh.com