Sports and the Dangers of Steroids

By Tim Tedesco

A few years ago I had the opportunity to sit in on a motivational speaker from the Taylor Hooten Foundation. The Taylor Hooten Foundation was founded in memory of Taylor Hooten, a high school baseball player from Plano, Texas. On June 15, 2003 he hung himself after a long battle of depression directly related to his use of anabolic steroids. The foundation was formed to travel the nation and speak to high school and college student athletes about the dangers of anabolic steroid use.

Many student athletes in high school and college turn to anabolic steroids in order to enhance their performance on the field. What they do not consider is the potential harm they can do to one’s body.

The speech was a mandatory event for all St Thomas Aquinas College student athletes, so that all student athletes could see the effect that anabolic steroids had a person who was their age or younger. Taylor Hooten was a tremendous pitcher and one of the stars of his varsity baseball team. After Taylor began experimenting with steroids, he saw the benefits on the field, but he always wanted more. His family’s doctor told them the depression was most likely caused from the sudden halt in his steroid use, which caused a withdrawal in his body; similar to that of a headache one would get if he/she didn’t have their morning coffee.

The mission of the Taylor Hooten Foundation is to spread the word that anabolic steroids are dangerous to our bodies and our health, and to show that there is no shortcut to success; you must work for everything you want. It is also a goal of the foundation to help any athlete that is currently using anabolic steroids to stop using and to counsel them to keep them from becoming depressed or hurting themselves. The foundation has grown over the years and has partnered with the MLB, NHL, The New York Yankees, and other major sport organizations in efforts to stop anabolic steroid use in sports.