Kansas high school football coaches and their perception of the action and effects of sports supplements in highschool football players

Paper presented to the 3rd Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 27, 2007.Research completed at the Department of Physician Assistant, College of Health ProfessionMany high school football players are experimenting with advertised “performance enhancing” supplements. Many of these athletes turn to their coaches for questions and advice regarding supplements. Purpose: The purpose of this project is to learn the opinions of Kansas high school football coaches regarding sport supplement use in high school football players. Methods: An email survey was sent out to all Kansas high school football coaches regarding their knowledge and recommendations of supplement use in their athletes. Results: 53% of the coaches thought supplements were beneficial to a high school athlete, 32% were neutral, and 15 % either disagreed or strongly disagreed. 80% of the coaches were aware of their athletes taking supplements. 72% of coaches recommended supplement use to their athletes. 70% stated they had received educational material regarding supplement use in high school athletes. 90% were interested in receiving information regarding sport supplement education in high school aged athletes if available. Conclusion: A wide degree of variation exists between different coaches and their thoughts and opinions regarding supplement use in high school football players