South Australian footy chiefs step in to stamp out growing meth problem

THE SA Amateur Football League believes players are using the drug ice to enhance performance before suburban and country games.

THE SA Amateur Football League believes players are using the drug ice to enhance performance before suburban and country games.

The league is calling for help to tackle the problem as a former coach warns use of the drug is rife at country clubs.

The call follows revelations Victorian players were taking ice to feel like “superman” before games, amateur league chief executive John Kernahan said although he was not aware of specific cases in SA, he believes it would be happening here.

“Of course it’s going on here,” said Mr Kernahan, who stressed he didn’t o the scope of the problem.

A former local football coach has revealed he had caught two of his players smoking the drug before a match and said the drug was rife in SA country footy clubs.

Victorian Police last week revealed methylamphetamine use among amateur footballers was a serious problem and in some cases, coaches were supplying the drug to their players.

An Australian Crime Commission report has described ice as a “mind-eating, personality-distorting, life-ending drug” that threatened the community like no other.

Mr Kernahan said the amateur league would seek advice on how it should act to discourage use of drugs and deal with any cases that emerge.

“We are not aware of it from first-hand (accounts) but there’s no reason to suggest that if it is going on in Victoria that it’s not going on in South Australia, Western Australia and NSW,’’ Mr Kernahan said.

“Is it something that we’re going to have to be aware of in the future? Absolutely. My first reaction was, ‘of course it’s going on here’. You’d be naive to think otherwise.”

In the wake of news reports, local football clubs including Payneham Norwood Union began speaking to their players to warn them of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

Payneham Norwood Union president George D’Antiochia also said his club would ask players to take a drug test if they were suspected of drug use.

“We are making it clear to our guys that we do not condone that sort of behaviour,” Mr D’Antiochia said.

“We can’t stop them from taking drugs in their own time, but we do monitor their behaviour and if it changes drastically, we ask them to go to a GP and take a drug test.

“If they are found guilty of using drugs and still don’t admit to having a problem, they will be asked to leave the club. But if they admit to having the problem, we will try to help them and organise some counselling.”

The SA Community Football League, the umbrella organisation which guides all SA football leagues, operates under the AFL’s Anti-Doping Code and delivers drug education programs to players, but does not have its own specific drug policy to deal with the issue.

An anonymous caller to talkback radio last week said he was a recent ex-coach at community level in SA and caught two of his players smoking ice before a match.

He believed some local football clubs were now riddled with the problem.

“I have particularly run into two players doing it (smoking ice) before a game,’’ he said.

“Which was for me pretty devastating to see not just your own players, whom you love and try and protect, but to see anyone doing it. We would all be naive to say that it’s not a huge problem, because it is. “It’s riddled through a lot of sporting clubs in SA, a lot of bush and country footy clubs.

“I have a close mate who coaches in a league in the bush and he knows for a fact that some of his players only played for the money out there simply so they can do drugs during the week …

“We’re not talking about just anyone here, we’re talking about a couple of ex-SANFL players that are doing it.”

In Mt Gambier, Western Border Football League spokesman David Heard said police had hosted a community forum on ice earlier this month and the findings were “surprising and shocking”.

But he said he was not aware of any cases of ice use within the football competition and the league had no reason to address it specifically.

Mt Gambier and western Victorian town Portland have been identified as having an ice problem in the wider community.

Mr Kernahan said his greatest fear was that a player found to be under the influence of ice, which increased aggression and altered decision making, injured another player.

SA Police and the SA Community Football League told The Advertiser they were not aware of any incidents of amateur footballers using ice before games.

“The use of illicit drugs and the effect this is having in our community is a problem we all share and are committed to address,” community football league general manager Leeanne Grantham said.

“As a governing body for community football in SA, we facilitate a number of educational programs to send a clear message about making the right choices on and off the field.”

Short lift, long health woes

By Reece Homfray

FOOTBALLERS who use the drug ice before games risk having a stroke or fatal heart seizure on the ground, according to an Australian Drug Foundation expert.

ADF national policy manager Geoff Munro said while the drug could enhance performance, it posed a significant threat to health and could lead to addiction.

“It’s not a myth because in the past players have been known to use amphetamines as a performance enhancer because it gives people confidence and energy and can lead to aggression,” Mr Munro said.

“But the problem is it can also lead to severe health problems including heart seizures and stroke. It might also make players more aggressive than they need to be.

“And there have been accounts of players in country football having a heart attack and dying because they’ve taken methamphetamines and had an underlying heart problem they were unaware of. It can certainly lead to having a racing heart (and) they may have breathing problems.”

Mr Munro said the drug artificially forces the body into arousal and may alter a user’s personality.

“As the drug wears off it has the opposite effect, they become irritable, lethargic, and in that state they can easily become angry and violent,” he said.

Mr Munro said football codes were among the sports at greatest risk of being infiltrated by ice.

And one of the biggest dangers is that people don’t know what they are taking.

“When taking a drug like ice, because it’s illegal, people can never quite know how strong it is, what the dose is, so that adds to the unpredictability,” Mr Munro said.

“They may take a much bigger dose than they think and become very aggressive or it might lead to them having heart seizures, or could lead to a stroke.”

But he said as the community becomes more aware of the drug and its dangers, its usage may decline.

“This is the familiar pattern that drugs become popular because they provide people with something they want,” he said.

“But as people learn about the dangers and the problems, and that takes some time, word will get around and the drug is likely to decline but it may take some time.”