The non-profit Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation announced a new partnership between the Texas Rangers and the Taylor Hooton Foundation for Fighting Steroid Abuse to educate high school students about the side effects of anabolic steroids.
The Taylor Hooton Foundation initially focused on the abuse of steroid for performance-enhancing purposes. They have since expanded their education efforts to include appearance and performance-enhancing drugs (APEDs).
Major League Baseball (MLB) has made considerable efforts to clean up their image after the BALCO steroid scandal tarnished an entire era of amazing performance in professional baseball. MLB and individual teams have created an ongoing working relationship with steroid education organizations such as the Taylor Hooton Foundation.
Don Hooton and Steve Smith have regularly appeared at “Hoot’s Chalk Talks” for each baseball team every year for the past few seasons in order to teach young people about the side effects of steroids. Young people are encourage to take a pledge to ‘play clean’.
Hoot’s Chalk Talk Athlete’s Pledge
- I am an athlete who loves organized sports.
- I believe the era of illegal steroid use among athletes must come to an end.
- I believe in healthy lifelong alternatives – training hard, eating well and playing with attitude.
- I will encourage those around me to Play Clean and strengthen the future of sports
- I commit myself to Play Clean.
Photo credit: Millard Baker / flickr
Photo credit: Millard Baker / flickr
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