Steroids: True Stories hosted by Curt Schilling
(9-19-06) BOSTON, Mass. � Boston Red Sox 2004 World Champion pitcher Curt Schilling addresses the problem of illegal steroid use in a new educational DVD. At an advanced screening of the DVD, school athletic directors, counselors and other concerned adults from across Massachusetts will also have the opportunity to take part in an expert panel. The educational forum will be held in the Players Club at Fenway Park on Wednesday, May 24 from 10 a.m. to noon. The forum will be emceed by the Director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, Peter Roby.
Attendees will be welcomed by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menno, who with Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner, Paul Cote, will speak to the importance of reaching young people and parents with information about the risks associated with the use of anabolic steroids.
�We live in a quick-fix culture. Our young people often look at athletes as role models, so it is tempting for them to resort to drugs that make them stronger and faster. But that reward comes with a high price,� said Menino. �Our youth need this kind of information and support to choose a path that is safer, healthier and in the end, more satisfying.�
In the DVD Steroids: True Stories Hosted by Curt Schilling, produced by Blake Works, Schilling chronicles teenager Craig Costa�s road to and from steroid abuse. Costa, his parents, and his younger sister, recount their five-year nightmare and their great triumph when Costa finally quit using steroids. Schilling also tells the story of Nate Hunter, a Northeastern University freshman who is a shot put champion. Hunter describes how he builds his strength naturally with the goal of competing in the Olympics.
�The stories in the DVD and the booklet Words Can Work: When Talking About Steroids, are an ideal way to help start and continue conversations about steroids among young people and their peers, and families,� said Jeanne Blake, producer of the DVD and author of Words Can Work booklets available at www.wordscanwork.com.
The expert panel will be populated by Harvard Medical School�s Dr. Roberto Olivardia, Drug Enforcement Agency�s June Stansburg, City of Boston Director of the Department of Recreation and former New England Patriot Garin Veris, Costa, and his mother Joyce Costa. All panel participants will be available for interviews directly following the forum.
Attendees will receive the DVD and copies of the teaching tool booklet Words Can Work: When Talking About Steroids compliments of event co-sponsors Partners HealthCare, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
A portion of the future proceeds from the DVD support Schilling�s charity Curt�s Pitch for ALS.
Co-hosts include: The Office of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Northeastern University�s Center for the Study of Sport in Society, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, the Governor�s Interagency Council on Substance Abuse Prevention, and Blake Works, Inc.
About the Center for the Study of Sport in Society
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University is one of the world�s leading social justice organizations that use sport to create social change both nationally and internationally. The flagship organization located in the heart of Boston, Mass. was founded in 1984 by Dr. Richard Lapchick and touts branches in Baltimore, Md. and Phoenix, Ariz. Through research, education, and advocacy the center promotes physical activity, health, violence prevention, and diversity among young people and college and professional athletes. Sport in Society�s innovative programs are all staffed by former college or professional athletes and have been awarded America�s most successful violence prevention program by Lou Harris, the Peter F. Ducker Award as the most innovative non-profit program in the social sector, and have been cited as the National Crime Prevention Council�s 50 Best Strategies to Prevent Violent Domestic Crimes. For more information please visit http://www.sportinsociety.org.
