The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has published what they call a “groundbreaking research report” about the perception of sports in the United States. Discovery Education conducted the survey which was paid for by the USADA.
USADA, whose activities are funded in large part by taxpayers via federal government grants, no doubt hopes that their research helps justify the need to allocate taxpayer dollars to fight doping in sports. Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, summarizes the report stating, “This research reinforces that Americans care about the integrity of sport and what it means in our society.”
Additional findings from the USADA press release include the following:
- Parents overwhelmingly cite personal and social values when describing their hopes for their children in playing sport
- Nearly 90% of U.S. adults agree that well-known athletes have a responsibility to be positive role models for young people, and by wide margins agree that the personal conduct of well-known athletes is as important as their athletic accomplishments
- Coaches rank as the #1 positive influence on today’s youth involved in sport
- Two-thirds of Americans agree that sport overemphasizes the importance of winning.
- More than three-fifths of U.S. adults- approximately 162 million people- claim some relationship to sport-related activities
Unfortunately, the survey failed to asked respondent how they felt about taxpayer dollars being used to fight doping in sport. While Americans may believe steroids in sport is a serious problem, the survey failed to ask if respondents agreed that government funds should be prioritized to pay for USADA’s war on steroids.
It is also unclear if the survey asked respondents about troublesome issues such as concussions; many experts feel the problem of concussions in contact sports “eclipses” the use of steroids in sports.
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