Teens feel restricted
 Setting priorities
 Enough to make you go insane
 Going overboard

 Thanks for helping us stand
 Resisting pressures of popularity
 Double standard
 Long-distance

 The 1999 issue home page

     Competitiveness is taught to be a healthy attitude but some scientists are claiming that within the last 10 years or more the definition has changed for the worse. Little girls sit closely to the TV screen staring intently at the tumbling passes perfected by a 14-year-old, 70-pound girl. Is it really a coincidence that so many gymnasts become anorexic or bulimic before the age of 16?
     The word competitiveness is taken to a definite extreme. It begins in elementary school where the method of winning is praised and losers are looked down on. High school takes competition to another level in hopes of a collegiate position. It's definitely not uncommon for muscle enhancers such as Creatine to be introduced at an early age during high school.
     Matt Bach, assistant manager of the Lady Gators basketball team said athletes feel pressure on every level. Bach also previously attended Bolles High School in Jacksonville, where he said, "Basketball was life."
     "My coach was very demanding," he explained, "but fortunately he was never out of line more than what was called for." Bach said that the demands were set high so the physical training was very demanding. Creatine was used by everyone on the team to help build defined muscles, which in return helped them perform better on the court, he said.
     To be one of the best football teams in the state, Bolles had a special secret up its sleeve. "Of course our football team was good. A minority of the team, which were my friends, were using steroids to get the winning effects while others used hard dedicated work." He also mentioned that many of the football players had the brawn but not the brains even though Bolles was also known as one of the leading academic schools throughout the country.    
     Andrew Dupree, 16, from P.K. Yonge High School in Gainesville, said that he did receive special attention at his school because of the uniform he wore on Friday nights at football games. He said, "I admit I have received a few extra credit points with no extra credit work."
     He also that a lot of pressure was put on the players by the coaches, teachers, students, parents, or anyone investing money or time into the football program. At times he feels it's just too much to handle.
     Perhaps that's what most high school or collegiate athletes feel. "The pressure sometimes is enough to make a person go insane," said freshman Jennifer Clark from Jacksonville. She attended a small high school in Baldwin, Florida. "Every now and then I thought if I did possibly quit basketball if I'd have any friends left, or even what my parents would think. Now that's kind of scary! It's also amazing how much special attention I received in high school from coaches and staff. Of course I didn't get grades or anything, that was reserved for the football team."
     Clark explained that most of the money and time seem to go to the football team. "Every year they get new uniforms and new equipment."
     The stories of the endless "special treatment" for football, basketball, soccer, or any dominating sport have long been in circulation. Some cases are true and some are not provable. So how about the actual harmful effects of the down side of pressure?
     Mandy White, a volleyball player from Jacksonville said, "We practiced for about eight hours daily during the summer taking an hour break for lunch, then during the school year we practiced about four and a half hours daily."
     "It all depended if our coach got tired. So I played some summer tournaments, seasonal, and I was even on the traveling volleyball team in offseason. I felt like I had no life and not to mention my bones were poking out of my back," White says.
     "It wasn't just the fact that the physical aspect of the sport was overbearing, it was that I once loved it and now I can't stand to be on the court competitively. My parents did expect a lot from me but I wanted to impress them and make them proud." White, 17, said, "The coach also had high expectations and she was a good coach but between school, volleyball, family life, and pretending to have a social life, I was miserable."