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"[Kids] see these tremendously huge bodies that are moving around the football field or the hockey rink or the basketball court, and they see these guys doing incredible feats of athletic skill and the kids want to emulate that, so they're going to get there however they can."
Greg Schwab had aspirations to play for the NFL and was well on his way to achieving that dream. He began playing football during junior high school, and his natural talent eventually led to a full ride scholarship to the University of Oregon. But during his junior year as a college football player, he felt that his natural physique was holding him back. He was as big and strong as his body would allow him to become-and, in his mind, it wasn't good enough. To stay competitive, Schwab felt pressured to do something to give him an edge.
"Steroids were always one of those things that we knew about. We knew that they existed and I just started questioning other guys on the team." Within no time, Schwab found someone willing to become his supplier. Schwab used Dianabol, a popular anabolic steroid in the form of a small, blue, five-milligram pill that has a reputation for contributing to dramatic gains in size and strength. "To this day, I don't know where he got them," Schwab adds. "I didn't ask and he didn't tell."
While anabolic steroids can deliver lean muscle mass, strength and stamina, they can also bring a number of less desirable side effects including jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure, increased risk for cancer, acne and the risk of HIV or hepatitis if steroids are injected. There are also gender specific symptoms related to steroid abuse. Males may suffer from shrunken testicles, infertility, baldness and development of breasts (gynecomastia), while females may experience male-pattern baldness, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, deepened voice, growth of facial hair and enlargement of the clitoris.
Did Schwab know about the side effects? "Oh sure. I read about all of them," Schwab states. "That's the double-edged sword with steroids. While there are all these side effects…you get bigger, you get stronger and you get faster. You're able to train harder and that's what athletes are looking for; they're looking for that thing that is going to take them to the next level." He adds, "When you're twenty, twenty-two years old, you feel pretty invincible. You think, 'Those things aren't going to happen to me.'" While Schwab doesn't seem to have suffered from any long-term consequences, he does question whether his hypertension may have been a result of his steroid use. His doctor says they can't rule that out.
Currently, Schwab is a high school associate principal and has coached many football, wrestling and track teams. He uses his own personal stories to help teens stay away from performance enhancing drugs and other illicit substances, but says the pressure to abuse steroids is high among student athletes today. "I think kids are putting pressure on themselves. I think parents are putting pressure on their kids. I think parents are putting pressure on the coaches. The communities are putting pressure on the coaches. The coaches are putting pressure on the kids. Kids are putting pressure on the coaches. You can't pin it down [to one factor]," Schwab states.
"They're being raised with this incredibly competitive attitude," he adds. "It used to be that we played sports for the camaraderie experience, for the team, for the fun of it. Now kids play competitive sports because it's a means to an end. It's a way to get a scholarship."
According to the 2001 Monitoring the Future survey, 3.7 percent of 12th graders reported experimenting with anabolic steroids at one time, over a 30 percent increase since the previous year and resulting in a five-year rise in use overall. However, a small decrease in experimentation among 8th graders may herald a decline in coming years across all grades.
Schwab tells his students that it's just not worth it. He says the benefits to using steroids "do not outweigh the potential consequences." He adds, "With kids, I'm very honest about my [past] use, and explain that I know where they're coming from on this one. [I explain that] they are 15, 16-year-old kids; they haven't finished growing yet and there's a host of problems connected to adolescent steroid use." In addition to the aforementioned side effects, of particular concern for children who take steroids is premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes, which can permanently stunt their growth.
Schwab believes that student athletes may also be at risk for other illicit substances. "It's kind of contrary that those people who are really into doing the best things for their body are oftentimes the ones who make some of the most foolish choices when it comes to illegal or illicit drugs, [but] it just goes back to that risk-taking, competitive nature in athletes." He goes on to say, "If a parent feels like their kids are okay because they do sports, they're putting their head in the sand. They need to be asking questions and having some pretty frank discussions with their kids about drugs. And if you have any kind of concern, then [they should] ask someone for help. Schools now have resources to help parents with so many of these issues."
When asked about prevention messages for kids, Schwab said, "If you want to make an impact on high school boys, you tell them that it's going to affect their testicles and they will develop breasts. Those two things will have an impact. You hit them where they live. But I think it has to come from them. Deterrents have to come from the peer group. As adults, coaches, administrators and teachers, we can stand up on our soapboxes and point our fingers and say 'Thou shall not do this,' 'Thou shall not do that,' and kids will just blow us off. I think [messages are most effective] when kids are educating each other and kids themselves are changing the culture."
Despite the recent media attention centering on steroid use, Schwab says even when he was playing football in the 80's, it was common. "Steroids were an accepted part of the culture. It wasn't something people talked about. We didn't sit around the locker room and say, 'Hey, are you doing steroids?' We just did them." But even though many athletes use them, few openly admit to it due to public disapproval players face after confessing to steroid use. "They get lambasted in the press like Caminiti did. People don't talk about it because you are branded as a cheater." However, according to Schwab, you're not called a cheater until you get caught. Until then, he states, people just congratulate you on your improved performance.
To learn more about anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, (click here).
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