Steroids Use in Sports

Steroids Use in Sports: A Reflective Essay
Student’s Name
Institution
Introduction
I have always been surprised by the growing cases of sports personnel always found on the wrong side of sporting federation laws regarding the use of prohibited substances. This is because I have grown up viewing sportspersons as the most disciplined individuals that will not be ready to take any risk of messing up their careers. With the hard work and the sacrifices that these individuals usually make to reach the top, using performance-enhancing drugs is something that surprised me and was convinced that there is something about beyond the individual.
A recent report that I came along provided an overview of the different cases of doping in rugby and cycling (Jalleh, Donovan & Jobling, 2014). This prompted me to seek a further explanation from an expert on the possible reasons behind these growing trends. A visit to a local coach provided me with the insight that I had been missing for a very long time. According to him, the cases of doping have been increasing majorly due to the increased pressure on the athletes to perform and the subject of commercializing sports. Players representing their countries or even at any level of competition but expected to defend their titles have been found to go extra miles of even involving themselves into this issue of drug enhances. Through statistics, I was able to note the increased rates of sports commercialization (Butt et al., 2016). Sportspersons have therefore been opting to use even the illegal means of attaining glory in the tracks and the filed just for the sake of securing endorsement deals.

The information that I gathered from my host was partly a confirmation of what I already knew and shocking of the things that I never even imagined. I was always sure that there was a hidden force that directed athletes towards putting their careers on the line. However, I was not aware that it was from the fans (me included) that forced some of these athletes towards forcing their way into winning. In as much as I viewed the commercializing of sports, I was not aware that athletes would violate ethical foundations for the sake of securing contracts with big labels globally. It was a risk not worth taking.
When the conversation between the host and me started, I had the feeling that I was well informed and started losing interest. However, with time, I noted that there were somethings that I was not fully conversant with but were happening. This made me feel empty as far as the knowledge of doping in sports was of concern.
The fact that I ended up being informed on the different issues related to the use of steroids in the sport would never make me feel as if I had ended my learning journey. I was motivated even to grow more interest in this subject. However, the nest time I am going to meet with an expert, I will ensure that I have all my facts right and also possible questions for them so that I get an opportunity of learning more.
All in all, however, I was impressed by the end of the conversation between my host and me. The main reason behind securing that interview was to understand all issues related to the use of steroids in sports. I was able to reach my goals eventually because I had gotten an opportunity of learning what I never knew and perfected what I already knew.
References
Butt, Z. I., Akhtar, T., Adnan, M. A. J., Munir, I., Mughal, A. W., Saeed, N., … & Fozia, T. (2016). EFFECT OF DOPING BELIEF ON PURCHASE INTENTION OF SPORTS CONSUMERS (SC)-IN PRESENCE OF ATHLETES’BRAND IMAGE. Science International, 28(4).
Jalleh, G., Donovan, R. J., & Jobling, I. (2014). Predicting attitude towards performance enhancing substance use: a comprehensive test of the Sport Drug Control Model with elite Australian athletes. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 17(6), 574-579.