Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude in the Field of Doping in Young Athletes of Team Games

Contemporary sport is becoming more and more commercialized, hence the players strive to win at all costs, and to achieve this goal, they consider all means to be allowed. In order to be constantly on top, competitors change their training methods, use various aids, and finally direct their interests towards doping. Doping is considered to be the use of substances and all means intended to artificially increase physical fitness during sports competitions, which may be harmful to the ethics of sport or cause mental and physical harm to athletes. The aim of the research is to assess the knowledge of the problem and attitudes of young people practicing sports games towards the dangers of doping. Assessment of knowledge on the effects of the use of illicit means, and analysis of opinion on the use of doping and strengthening mechanisms for the adoption of pharmacological agents. Research on the knowledge about the use of support measures and doping in sport was carried out among talented youth practicing team sports games in randomly selected clubs of Małopolska, Silesia, Podkarpacie and Opole. Continuation studies were conducted in 2018-2020, they covered 60 girls and 60 boys, aged 16 years. The research was carried out using a questionnaire, the questions of which concerned the following problems: knowledge of the essence of sports doping, the relationship between doping and the principle of fair play in sport, support used in physical recreation, reasons for the use of doping, moral and criminal liability in the use of doping. When analyzing the results of the research, it should be noted that the use of doping in sport is negatively perceived by the examined youth. However, it can be assumed that the knowledge about the support and the problem of doping in sport is insufficient. Setting the main goal - sports success and the related financial rewards, as well as the willingness to be the best in the opinion of the respondents may narrow the boundaries, which may facilitate the decision to use support and doping. These observations seem to be very disturbing, as the analysis of research data concerns young people practicing sports at the stage of education and the utilitarian nature of physical activity.