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Show Page 11 Raging Jared Lloyd NORTH COUNTY The sports world is currently cur-rently inundated with scandal. Dog fighting, a referee betting on games, arrests, suspensions, suspen-sions, sanctions and other sordid sor-did tales have taken over the spotlight. And, of course, there's the ongoing saga of the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball stars like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire and Rafael Palmeiro turned into controversial figures because of juicing investigations, in-vestigations, and other major pro sports like football and basketball aren't immune to the controversy. Professional wrestling, track, cycling and even golf have also fallen under the dark cloud of suspicion because of steroids. With yet another high-profile star failing a drug test at the Tour de France this week, cycling is getting dangerously dan-gerously close to imploding over the doping scandal. The big question is what lessons les-sons are youth athletes learning learn-ing from the spotlight on performance-enhancing drugs? "The perception in baseball is that a lot of guys are doing it," said Utah County resident Dale Murphy, a former two-time two-time MVP for the Atlanta Braves. "If the perception by the youth is that professional athletes are doing it, we need to fight that." Murphy, who wrote a book called "The Scouting Report: Youth Athletics" that discusses some of the issues facing youth sports, was brainstorming some ideas with friends when they came up with a proactive idea. They established the iWon't Cheat Foundation to encourage kids to decide that they are going go-ing to do things the right way. "Our goal is to educate these V m SATISFACTION - ,,ff"-f?! .GUARANTEED ? .,. ! - ' WXTALLPAPER U WAREHOUSE p 'YOUH DECORATING STORE AND MORE' BlSnrJo aqainst jfT f?JLy kwiNNH. .til V Dale Murphy instructs a group of in Burgess Park in Alpine. kids and teach them ways to excel legitimately," Murphy explained. "If steroids aren't the answer, then what is? Trainers say they can do it correctly (with targeted workouts), work-outs), whereas the shortcuts (i.e. drugs and questionable supplements) cause notlving but problems." That's what brought in trainer train-er David Stroshine, founder ownerdirector of performance at Academy for Maximum Performance Per-formance in Provo. "They had a philosophy and great information on the consequences con-sequences of steroid use, but they didn't have a solution," Stroshine said. "But there are programs out there that compete com-pete and do it the right way. "The body is an amazing machine ma-chine and when you address the individual issues, amazing things can happen." According to the mission statement on the foundation's Web site, its "No. 1 goal is to have athletes at all levels of competition accept the challenge chal-lenge to compete ethically by committing to live with an attitude at-titude of 'iWon't Cheat!'." "rt,r r rv - wtm DMmnm Jimwrn imt-mi wmm 12 Mos. . Daint No interest 'raids: up, ) n I ijiiinii) ijpi mil iii.ij I r Courtesy photo young players prior to a game To further that end, Stroshine, Murphy and others began making presentations to local high schools. They've already al-ready explained their program at Timpview and American Fork, and are a scheduled for a similar visit to Lehi in early August. "It's been very positive," said Murphy. "All of the coaches we've talked to have appreciated appreci-ated it and been glad to be involved. We understand that not every kid is having an issue is-sue but if we get the peers of the ones that are to commit to not cheating, it will change the culture." Caveman football coach Davis Knight said he felt the presentation carried a lot of weight. "They spent time with the athletes discussing the downside down-side of performance-enhancing drugs," Knight said. "They wanted to counter the negative nega-tive role models. The material wasn't based on what will happen hap-pen but more on that it was cheating. It encouraged them to stand up and do it the right way." LtMAVfiKMII & , fh www.martinscoilisionrepair.com , NewStyle I Duette Hybrid Shutters Honeycomb Shades Knight said that in his experience ex-perience this type of program is needed because kids can be susceptible to those telling them that steroids can help them. Stroshine said that's why it's important for athletes to realize they can get what they want without the aid of steroids. V "These are good programs pro-grams and we have a lot of confidence in what we do," Stroshine said. "We believe we can compete with anyone in the field to help people achieve their dreams." Although the main focus of the program started out as a method of keeping kids from using steroids, Murphy said it is branching out into other areas as well. "It's become about ethics and a philosophy of life," Murphy Mur-phy said. "We talk about not cheating in athletics, in academics, aca-demics, at a job, on the field, and in life. Whenever you try to take shortcuts, you create more problems for yourself. The program is really broadening broaden-ing out." Murphy, Stroshine and others who work with the program have big ideas about what it could accomplish. The Central Bank Advantage Introducing another Central Bank Advantage Higher Rates Our new High Yield Money Market Accounts pay higher interest rates than most regular money market accounts while still allowing you access to your money with up to six withdrawals per month. To open a High Yield Money Market Account a Central Bank checking account is required. All transactions and statements arc electronic-no checks may be written. A minimum of $10,000 is required to open this account and to receive interest. Easy to use, easy access and higher rates all just part of the Central Bank Advantage. See us today at any of our 9 convenient offices to open your Central Bank High Yield Money Market Account. 2" Woods & Faux li ii Ki Locals Murphy, Stroshine part of program focused on educating youth athletes about dangers of performance-enhancing drugs "We want to reach all youth in one way or another, but it's hard to do that one assembly at a time," Murphy said. "We want to have a bigger Internet presence and more sponsorship. sponsor-ship. This is a message that can't be overdone." Knight said he endorses the idea of getting that message to youth everywhere. "As a coach, you should make the time (to have your kids hear this information)," Knight said. The Utah High School Activities Activ-ities Association wanted to get a copy of the "I won't cheat" booklet in to the hands of every ev-ery high school athlete, so they worked with Murphy and his partners to find some sponsors so they can distribute 60,000 of the pamphlets in Utah at no cost to the recipients. The program's reach already al-ready goes far beyond Utah, however. Murphy appeared at the Little League Baseball kickoff in Houston, Texas, in April, where 2,000 of the youth sports books with the "I won't cheat" booklets were released. Murphy will also be making mak-ing a presentation during the upcoming American Legion World Series, and that organization organi-zation has ordered 750 of the HIGH YIELD RATES MONEY MARKET ACCOUNTS $io,ooo-$49,999 $5o,ooo-$99,999 $ioo,ooo-$249,999 . . . $250,000 . . .4.50 . . .5.00 . . .5.15 . . .5.25 CENTRAL BANK Utah County's Small Business Bank "Annual percentage yield a,- oi July 9, . The rn- arc -tubjrri to change. If balance falls below ilO.OOO a Q charge will Ur assessed. For People Who Insist On The Best! A tandem products to distribute to all participants. Murphy and his team will head to Georgia the first week of September to conduct some sessions there as well with a variety of groups. Murphy has obvious ties there, and the governor contributed con-tributed to the youth books. There is also heightened visibility visibil-ity to sports character issues in the slate right now with the Michael Vick situation. "People are talking more than ever about doing the right things for the right reasons," Murphy said. His visit there is expected to include meeting with the governor and the Atlanta At-lanta Braves, doing some high sc1kx)1 presentations and also some book signings. Disney Sports, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have also expressed interest in the "I won't cheat" program and preliminary discussions are scheduled to explore ways to get the message out. For more information, go to the program Web site at iwont-cheat.com. iwont-cheat.com. Beky Beaton contributed to this story. I'or ItHtinccsol V-W.OOOm moiT- AI'Y AI'Y AI'Y AI'Y FDIC WALLPAPERS & BORDERS Benjamin moore Paints 25 OFF i ; I - -; HunterDouglasE 25 OFF : Regal Taint 25 OFF window fashions S Copy 9 |