Julian Woolf surveyed more than 400 high school athletes and found their intentions to use steroids were more influenced by friends and teammates than professional athletes.
Grad students John Murray, left, Suzanne Ali and Michael Hatten conducted research to learn more about how varsity football players' knowledge and attitudes about concussions influenced their behaviour.
Despite being aware of the long-term consequences of concussions, some football players are willing to continue participating because they’re able to rationalize putting their sport ahead of themselves.
Those were among the findings of a trio of first-year masters students in kinesiology who presented their work yesterday, the final day for their research methods course.
Lance Armstrong’s recent confession to Oprah Winfrey that he had been using performance enhancing substances for years may have led some more cynical observers to believe that doping among elite athletes has reached epidemic proportions.
Recent research by a human kinetics professor, however, suggests the willingness among elite athletes to cheat at all costs isn’t nearly as common as many might believe.
Meghan Roney has played plenty of high-contact sports like rugby and lacrosse, but draws the line when it comes to roller derby. Not because she’s afraid of getting hurt, though.
“I don’t skate,” the first-year kinesiology masters student confesses. “It would be interesting to try though. It 
might be fun to give it a shot.”
Julian “Jules” Woolf is a lifelong, drug-free athlete who is adamantly opposed to the use of steroids in sports, but has a slightly different take than most on how an anti-doping message ought to be conveyed to athletes looking for ways to artificially enhance their performance.
“The message that comes out is that steroids will kill you,” said Dr. Woolf, a new assistant professor in kinesiology. “The fact is, there is little empirical support for this. The potential for harm is overplayed, so the message loses credibility. We need a more informative approach.”
