WADA publishes new education tool: Parents’ Guide to Support Clean Sport

Press Release

10 August 2017

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to publish their latest education tool entitled Parents’ Guide to Support Clean Sport. Specifically designed for parents of athletes, this education resource is intended to inform them about essential topics so that they can assist with clean athlete development by preventing the use of substances and methods prohibited in sport. The short booklet covers basic facts and includes links to websites with further information for parents on the following topics:

Promoting good values
Identifying a healthy sport culture
Finding balance
Nutrition
The risks of supplements
Doping risk factors
Periods when athletes are more vulnerable to doping
Preventing the use of prohibited substances
Protecting the clean athlete – the doping control process
Recognizing possible signs and symptoms of drug use
What to do if your child is doping

“Generally, the athlete-parent relationship is the only one that is a constant throughout an athlete’s career, regardless of the level of involvement or influence of the parent,” said Rob Koehler, WADA Deputy Director General and Director of Education. “Coaches and support personnel come and go, so athletes, particularly younger athletes, commonly look to their parents as the first point of contact on many matters,” Koehler continued. “Parents need to constantly monitor their child’s environment to identify potential risk factors,” he said. “This tool will be a starting point to equip parents with the right information about clean sport and anti-doping. The booklet now being published by WADA provides this information and acts as a reference point for further learning.”

Current social science research highlights parents as particularly influential persons in young athlete populations. Parents shape their children’s personal ethics, which then guides their behaviors and their approach to sport throughout their career. Research also shows that parents, as a group, lack knowledge of anti-doping, which is why it is important that they be prioritized with targeted anti-doping education, providing them with the information they need to help guide their children*.

The Parents’ Guide to Support Clean Sport is available in online and print versions, in English, French and Spanish in the Education section of the WADA website:
https://www.wada-ama.org/en/education-tools.

*Erickson, K. Backhouse, S.H., & Carless, D. Doping in Sport: Do Parents Matter? Sport,

Exercise, and Performance Psychology. Vol 6(2), May 2017, 115-128. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spy0000081

Friday, 11 August 2017