9 players betrayed their teammates.
9 players betrayed their school.
9 players betrayed their coaches.
9 players betrayed themselves.
9 players betrayed the spirit of sport.
Yes it’s 3rd down and 9 at the University of Waterloo. If you haven’t been following the story, there is no first down for the Warriors in 2010.
Sadly. The result of a team-wide doping test, triggered by an unrelated police investigation, resulted in nine players being guilty of infractions. With nine of sixty-two found to be cheating, the university has suspended the football team for the season.
I personally don’t agree that the other fifty odd players, plus countless coaches and supporters, should be punished for the wrong doing of nine. But like all stories, I am sure there is more here than meets the eye. So let’s give the administration the benefit of the doubt.
What makes me more concerned is that these young men betrayed the values of the sport. They betrayed the values of being a student-athelete.
I am a football guy, first and foremost. Its my sport. I coach high school as a volunteer. I watch every game I can. I’ve been to a dozen Grey Cups.
Personally, I believe it’s the greatest team sport in the world. No other sport requires every member on the field to be so involved in every play. If you don’t have your teammates back, they could get hurt.
Clearly, in Waterloo, the teammates let each other down. Someone had to know. Someone had to have seen it.
Yet, it went on.
As teammates we owe it to warn one another of the health, legal, and moral risks of crossing the line. In the case of the Waterloo story, the risks also included losing a chance to play the game they love.
University sport in this country is a precious jewel. Every sport, male and female, features world-class athletes and coaches. Many of whom outshine their none intercollegiate classmates on the academic front as well.
University sport doesn’t deserve the potential black eye this could cause. There isn’t enough money to test every football player.
But the real question is should we have to? Should we test for other legal transgressions?
As a high school coach, I have never warned my players about steroids. That’s going to change this fall. I need to do my part. Ever so small. To ensure that what has happened to the Warriors doesn’t happen again.
Charlie Francis may have died this year, but doping issues haven’t gone away.