Students tackle drug use in sport

Sport students at Barnsley College Higher Education had the chance to listen to guest speaker, Professor Lambros Lazuras, talk about how clean sport education is vital both for high performance sport and for recreational sport and exercise.

“Talking to Barnsley College Sport students and staff gave me the opportunity to alert tomorrow’s sport professionals about the relevance of doping to their profession, and the need to have the appropriate skills and tools to tackle doping.”

Prof. Lazuras, a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, spoke about his project, IMPACT, funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus, which shares best practice and knowledge in clean sport education through the development of communities. IMPACT also provides access to a wide range of web-based clean sport education resources that can be readily used by any sport professional interested in utilising and promoting clean sport education in the local sporting community.

Prof. Lazuras said: “Talking to Barnsley College Sport students and staff gave me the opportunity to alert tomorrow’s sport professionals about the relevance of doping to their profession, and the need to have the appropriate skills and tools to tackle doping.

“According to a 2020 UK Anti-Doping report, there are approximately one million regular steroid users in the UK, about 1/3 of people attending gyms are aware of doping happening in their gym, and more than five million doses of anabolic steroids are seized at the border every year.

“The 2021 International Standard for Education of the World Anti-Doping Agency mandates that sport governing bodies and anti-doping organisations work closely with academic institutions to develop, deliver, evaluate and promote education against doping use in all levels and types of sport.

“This creates an important opportunity for young graduates and current Sport students to consider upscaling their employability profile by acquiring a formal qualification in clean sport education. The sport market will soon be looking for professionals with knowledge in this area, so the more prepared you are the better employment prospects you have.”

Lliam Dickinson, Sport Higher Education Pathway Leader at Barnsley College, added: “We were grateful and thrilled when Prof. Lazuras spoke to our degree students about this important subject and the opportunities available to them within the sport industry. I’d really like to thank him for sharing his vision with us.”