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Sam Penrod Reporting Major league baseball continues to fight a perception of steroid use among players. One former player is personally waging the battle against steroids, especially among young athletes.
Dale Murphy is a former all-star baseball player with the Atlanta Braves. He now lives in Utah County and has started a foundation to educate young players about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs.
Today, Murphy made a stop at American Fork High School to give a presentation to student athletes about avoiding steroids. Murphy's foundation is known as "I Won't Cheat," and he tries to get young athletes to commit themselves to stay away from drugs.
In the competitive world of athletics, Murphy fears many athletes feel it is necessary to use drugs to get ahead and believe cheating is the only way to succeed in life.
Dale Murphy says, "It really sets a foundation for your life in high school that you make commitments in athletics and commitments throughout your life and that you will do things the right way, you won't cheat, you won't take shortcuts. Success takes long, hard work, and there is no easy answer."
In fact, Murphy says that studies show an estimated one million high school students used steroids last year, and users keep getting younger. And the availability is a concern as well, since the drugs can be easy to find, anywhere from the local gym to the Internet.
Murphy is also attracting some big names in the sports world to help him in the campaign. Visit the campaign home page by following the related link.