Coaches are of critical importance given the pervasive influence they have over their athletes' values, moral reasoning and decision-making. Parents need to review their own sporting values and to examine their motives for enrolling their children in sport. Those working in the field of sport medicine including physicians, physiotherapists, trainers, etc. must seek to balance the desire to enhance the athletes' ability to compete with their responsibility to protect the health and well-being of the athlete. The mass media tends to portray sporting experiences as all or nothing adventures separating competitors into winners and losers - surely the game itself and what happens before, during and after is every bit as newsworthy as the final score. Or, at the very least, we must agree that this is so if we wish our children to believe it.
Sport contributes to society in many ways.
Through their involvement in sports young people can learn valuable life lessons ranging from discipline and commitment to camaraderie and teamwork. Participation in sport can also contribute to the development and enhancement of individual self-esteem. The values that give rise to drug use in sport and drug use itself pose a serious threat to the positive contribution sport can make to the pursuit of not just sporting excellence but also to the pursuit of human excellence. This question is not idly asked. The CCDS conducted public opinion polling in Canada over the last two years examining the extent to which the drugs and sport issue has influenced parents' decisions to enrol their children in organised sports.