FCBCoaches Academy teaches about doping prevention

The FCB Coaches Academy has reserved three hours of its training module on health to inform future coaches about doping prevention in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport (AEPSAD).

The activity is given by psychologist and AEPSAD collaborator Berta Folch, and is divided into two parts. The first explains the risk factors and barriers for protection against doping, raising awareness of the importance and influence of coaches with regard to sporting careers.

"This influence increases as an athlete approaches the elite” she says. “Because of the number of hours spent together and the bonds that are created, the coach becomes the first barrier against doping. A coach should not only focus on teaching skills and tactics, but should also play a wider role. Coaches are an essential element of the education and training of the athlete, and as part of their functions must promote values, attitudes and beliefs that reject doping.”

The second part of the session deals with the basic concepts of doping, as expressed by the 'Doing: What you need to know', which forms part of the AEPSAD online course 'Doping: any doubts?'.

Definition of doping

The session has given FCB Coaches Academy students the chance to define what they believe doping to mean, and to learn about how and when controls are conducted, which athletes are monitored and what they have to provide. They also learned about assessments of dietary complements, why athletes can be detected as positive, what medication an athlete can and cannot take, and whether these are essential for their health.

The session also looked at such aspects as violations, sanctions and rehabilitation, and presented medical analysis applications such as NoDopApp and GlobalDro and tools for validating the absence of banned substances in dietary complements, such as InformedSport.

The course ended with a questionnaire to verify the content. The coaches answered it individually and received a diploma showing that they have acquired the essential knowledge, which is signed by AEPSAD director Enrique Gómez Bastida.