Doping watchdog to visit Whanganui schools

Drugfree Sport NZ spokespeople will talking to sports people from six local secondary schools as part of their 'Good Clean Sport' programme

Representatives of New Zealand's national anti-doping organisation will be visiting Whanganui schools next week to give a workshop on student athletes avoiding performance-enhancing drugs and illegal supplements.

Drugfree Sport NZ spokespeople will talking to sports people from six local secondary schools on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of their 'Good Clean Sport' programme.

The visits comes at a time when the possibility of drug use at major school sports events has been thrown into the spotlight after Drugfree Sport confirmed they will be testing random players involved in the Top Four 1st XV playoffs in Palmerston North this September.

The organisation said the decision was prompted by mounting fears of college players either doping or taking banned substances in the face of pressure to perform.

It has met with a divided reaction, with the NZ Rugby Players' Association against a testing programme, while the likes of former All Blacks captain and Christ's College coach Reuben Thorne have no issue with the decision.

The workshop will cover such areas as values, the meaning of strict liability, defining cheating, and a discussion on supplements and the effects they can have on a young person's health.

Co-ordinating with Sport Whanganui, the workshops will be held at City College, Girls College and Whanganui High School on Tuesday.

On Wednesday they will be at Wanganui Collegiate, which will also be attended by Cullinane College students, then WHS again, followed by Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Tupoho.