Recent incidents at both Selinsgrove and Mount Carmel Area involving athletes who have been suspended or dismissed from their respective teams because of alleged alcohol use have represented nearly as big a story this year as anything that's happened on the field.
The uproar at Selinsgrove began when eight members of the football team were accused of underage drinking at a party and head coach Dave Hess booted them from the team, citing a stricter team policy and contract the players knowingly signed before the season.
Hess' decision was recently and finally upheld at a Selinsgrove Area School Board meeting. The eight players will not return to the team.
At Mount Carmel, three players are under investigation by Mount Carmel Township police for an incident that occurred Sunday, Sept. 24. The players have reportedly been suspended for two weeks, meaning they'll be available next week for the Red Tornadoes' annual rivalry game with North Schuylkill.
These incidents also reinforce the idea that it could happen at any time, to any team.
The fact is that the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta estimates that 42 percent of high-school age youths drink alcohol, according to a 2009 survey.
Even more startling are statistics from a 2001 article "Comparison of patterns of alcohol use between high school and college athletes and non-athletes," by Kathryn M. Hildebrand, et al published in the College Student Journal that more than 84 percent of high-school athletes who completed a survey had drank as recently as the previous semester they had taken the survey.
In that article, it's reported that athletes are actually six percent more likely to drink than non-athletes, and are found to drink more per sitting.
Whatever the reason that kids decide to indulge, alcohol inhibits an athletes ability to hydrate properly, produce testosterone related to muscle recovery and eye-hand coordination even one week after a particular incident.
With all this in mind, we contacted the six school districts in The News-Item's circulation area to find out what, if any, measures are in place in the way of punishment to dissuade athletes from imbibing.
All six athletic directors were candid with how and why their individual school handles situations the way they do. And while their policies vary, all are in agreement that student safety is paramount.
At Mount Carmel Area, which has had to dust off the student policy all too recently, the discretion lies with the coaches, as it does at Line Mountain.
Shamokin has a strict zero-tolerance policy, while Southern Columbia, which had tried both sets of standards (zero-tolerance and coaches' discretion), now has a strict across-the-board policy to which all sports must adhere. And at Lourdes, the message is clear: the administration can kick a student out if he or she becomes persistent in their disregard for the rules and can't be helped by counselling.
That said, the PIAA does not provide any guidelines or rules for schools to follow on how to discipline athletes who have broken real-world laws, but sticks to eligibility as it relates to transfers and residency.
Overall policy
Mount Carmel Area does not have an all-encompassing disciplinary policy for athletics, but the district requires each coach to come up with a code of conduct and present it to the team before the season starts. Each coach weighs the penalty based on each infraction.
"It is up to each individual coach's discretion to handle disciplinary actions," Mount Carmel athletic director Greg Sacavage said. "Our coaches can feel that a player's actions can result in lack of playing time, suspension or dismissal from the team.
"Whatever decision is made by the coach will be reviewed by the administration."
The overall athletic policy, which is 24 pages and covers everything from rules for coaches to directions to opposing schools, does not specify what is a punishable offense, nor does it recommend an appropriate punishment.
Under the section entitled, "Discipline and Athletics," the second numbered section says, "Never lose sight of the fact that our main objective in education is to help young people develop into responsible citizens. We must acknowledge that student-athletes are going to make mistakes; and when they do, our responsibility is to help them learn from their mistakes."
Whatever the coach's rules, they are presented to both players and guardians at a pre-organization meeting. For football Sacavage said it is usually in July, at which time the rules are spelled out for everyone, and from that point on the players are bound by those rules.
This stance does contrast with a Mount Carmel Area athletic policy found on the district's official website as currently as Wednesday afternoon that specifies the type of misconduct and the corresponding punishment. In it, the punishment for "drinking/possession of alcoholic beverages and/or the use of drugs or possession," is "One week team suspension and referral to Student Support Team. School policy will be followed if incident occurs on school grounds or at school activity. Second offense - dismissal from team."
Sacavage said this hasn't been used in seven years, and was changed in favor of a policy that gave more responsibility to the coaches to look at the circumstances individually.
The same is virtually true at Line Mountain, said athletic director Jeff Lagerman.
"We do not have an overriding policy prohibiting athletes from participating in sports or extra-curricular activities because of out-of-school incidents," Lagerman said. "We look at everything on a case-by-case basis. It comes down to where, when and the severity of the circumstances and situation."
Each coach is also responsible for creating his or her own set of team guidelines and rules, but is not required to include rules on drug or alcohol offenses, for instance. To Lagerman's knowledge, however, all do have rules concerning those substances.
"We support our coaches, but each coach must have the rules to back up the decisions."
Southern has a no-questions-asked 10-day suspension for a player who is either caught by police or suspected by school officials of using any illegal substance and admits to it. A second incident; however, means the athlete is done for that season.
"The bottom line is with things that happen outside of the school, you're somewhat limited," Southern Columbia football coach and athletic director Jim Roth said.
Southern has taken the stance that no matter what sport you play, you're held to the same standard.
"The school decided to go with a uniform policy," he said. "Some schools still say that if you want to make it tougher than school policy among individual programs then go ahead, but I can see how different policies in different sports could run into problems because there are too many inconsistencies."
For Southern Columbia, once may be a mistake, but twice suggests a bigger problem, some of which is disregard for the rules.
"Playing sports is a privilege. If you screw up, you lose it," Roth said.
"The thing that's disturbing is that while an isolated incident of a kid or two getting out of hand would be disappointing, eight or nine kids doing it at once is a slap in the face of the program. It's like as a team they're deciding what the rules should be."
At Lourdes, the specter of dismissal from school is certainly present, as are options for counselling based on the severity of the incident.
"They may not be a student at Lourdes any more," said Mike Klembara, athletic director and girls basketball coach.
"We have nothing written down, per say, but our first inclination would be to get the child some sort of help. If it's beyond that, the child will no longer be a student here."
At Shamokin, the rules are very clear cut: get caught and you're done.
"We have a school policy in place that a participant is off the team for the remainder of that season if they are caught or admit to any substance," Shamokin Area athletic director Rick Kashner said.
Kashner disclosed that already this fall there have been two incidents of players being dismissed from a team because of the policy, which also includes performance-enhancing drugs.
"It can be a coach or any school official. If there is a suspicion, an administrator can force the individual to go to the hospital to be tested, and if they then refuse it's a 10-day out-of-school suspension."
Zero-tolerance
Every athletic director is aware of zero-tolerance policies, but like any hot-button issue, they all had very differing opinions of it.
On one hand, it sets a very immediate and definitive standard - do this and you're out. On the other, the question arises if you're giving up too quickly on someone in obvious need of help.
"I was a zero-tolerance guy," Roth admitted, "but I changed my mind when I realized that, for some of these kids, the worst thing you can do for them is kick them off the team and put them right on the street."
While Shamokin's zero-tolerance policy isn't the most popular among students, it takes the pressure off a coach.
"I wouldn't want to put that on the coach, even if it wasn't the case (of going soft on a star athlete as opposed to a backup), it would be the perception," Kashner said.
At Mount Carmel, the idea of zero-tolerance being instituted some day isn't off the table, but it would come only after considerable discussion.
"I think it's something that should be debated," Sacavage said. "I'd like to hear both sides of the argument, both positives and negatives. It's not an easy answer."
Drug testing
Only one area school district, North Schuylkill, has any type of drug testing, and its random tests extend to any student who drives, has designs on going to the prom or is in any school activity, including clubs and sports.
"I appreciate that they did that across the board," North Schuylkill athletic director Jim Gross said. "Many times athletes get singled out. If only they were tested, it would be unfair.
"If you want to get a much better idea of how drug-free your school is, you have to test a wide variety of students."
But there are still problems at North Schuylkill.
While every student who participates in sports must have his or her name in the hat for random tests, there is no direct line of communication from the guidance office, which oversees the test, and the athletic department.
"It's up to the student to inform their adviser or coach," Gross said.
There have been instances where a less-than-forthcoming student has gotten away with practicing while under suspension.
"When someone tests positive, I am not notified," Gross said. "How do we hold the students accountable if we aren't told?"
Kashner has heard the rumblings that the school should implement drug testing, and he likes what he hears.
"It gives the kids who are going to do it all the more reason to stop and reconsider it," Kashner said.
Neither Mount Carmel, Southern Columbia nor Line Mountain have drug testing.