soundcloud.com/lappy-bird/drugs-in-sport-edited-final-mixdown This radio piece compliments a written piece of work I completed regarding drugs in professional sport - both recreational and performance-enhancing. Transcript Newsreader’s Introduction (not recorded) Drugs continue to mare sporting codes across Australia, with the recent plights of senior players exposing our next generation of athletes to the damaging repercussions of illegal substances. Nick Wright has the details. (Recorded reporting)
(Natural sound of junior sport match with spectators for two seconds, then fade under script) Australia’s most talented young footballer’s face an ethical dilemma as the latest drug revelations in football codes threaten to extend to our junior levels. These concerns come in light of the cocaine scandal which has stolen football headlines in 2015 on the Gold Coast and seen several players implicated, including Gold Coast Titans representative stars Greg Bird and Dave Taylor, and Queensland Reds recruit and vice-captain, Karmichael Hunt. Concern now lies in the development of our next generation of stars and how they could be manipulated by senior club members to become involved with drug use, either recreational or performance enhancing. Scott Kennedy is a level two rugby coach and the Head of Health, Sport and Physical Education at Matthew Flinders Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast and says that should these issues continue, cautious parents may refuse to expose their children to these sporting environments, denying them educational and growth opportunities. (Lose natural sound) CART “With parents, when they look at sport in general they tend to look at, is my son or my daughter going to be safe if I put them in that environment and if the answer’s no, my biggest concern is taking them out of that environment, what other avenues do these kids learn to be fit, healthy, active young people and where do they get exposed to team sports where they develop other life skills like resilience, persistence, responsibility, accountability, they’re life skills that these kids are missing out on.” RUNS: 28 seconds (Natural sound of junior sport match resumes under script) Of further concern are the seemingly lenient punishments handed out to high profile athletes. Mr Hunt plead guilty to cocaine possession charges, whilst negotiations with prosecutors enabled four charges of supplying the drug to be dropped, avoiding the mandatory four-year- ban imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for just six Super Rugby matches, fined $2500 and received no recorded conviction. The Gold Coast Titans players involved have had their initial suspensions lifted, seeing them miss just two matches. This has posed a weak stance by the NRL, with Mr Kennedy expressing his fear that the inconsistencies in the penalties given could convince young athletes to risk drug taking and gamble on their sporting futures. (Lose natural sound) CART “There’s a whole heap of inconsistencies in the way that these things are dealt with and the way kids will react to the inconsistencies is they’ll look at the lowest common denominator and go, ok, I’m only going to get three weeks tops.” RUNS: 12 seconds (Resume natural sound of junior sport match under script) Despite these sentences doing little to resolve arguments that athletes are shielded in regards to drug related crimes; the eyes of the law view these cases differently. Recently retired criminal lawyer and criminal law professor, Anna Bishop, says that justice was served and that so many considerations are taken into account upon prosecuting that the public may lose sight over whether the correct sentence was carried. (Lose natural sound) CART “With respect to Karmichael Hunt, what most people don’t know is that he was actually charged with supplying a drug to himself, not supplying a drug to another person. Now had Karmichael Hunt not been an athlete, I am of the view that he may well have even received a lesser penalty then what he did and, to some extent, there was a deterrent affect built into his penalty because he is such a high ranking football player and the community needs to see that there are ramifications for this sort of action.” RUNS: 33 secs (Resume natural sound of junior sport match under script) At the time of Mr Hunt’s sentencing, magistrate Catherine Pirie considered the defendant’s speedy guilty plea, his show of genuine remorse and written references from high-profile football identities, including his former coach Wayne Bennett. Following the accused Titans players pleas of non-guilt, extensive investigations are expected to persist throughout the 2015 season and educators such as Mr Kennedy, agree that a lot will be required to permanently eradicate drugs from the game, and this must start at a junior level. (Lose natural sound) CART “There’s an enormous opportunity for kids to earn money through sport. Those opportunities start at school level when they start to pick up scholarships to private schools or getting selected into academy programs and obviously these a temptation there for students to try and get into that pathway that they might go beyond natural means and natural talent to try and get themselves into those programs. But I think the teams, the clubs: those organisations probably need to take a little bit more responsibility for educating kids.” RUNS: 32 seconds (Resume natural sound of junior sport match under script) With no room in the game for drug abuse, there is plenty for coaches like Mr Kennedy to help mould more intelligent footballers and take the code to new heights. Nick Wright reporting. (Natural sound fades out) RUN TIME: 4 minutes 16 seconds
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