AFLW | Jotup

Why cocaine is considered performance-enhancing for athletes, and why it matters when the athlete took it

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Last year a Melbourne Demons player, Joel Smith, and two Sydney Swans AFLW players were caught with cocaine.

Key Points:

Last year a Melbourne Demons player, Joel Smith, and two Sydney Swans AFLW players were caught with cocaine.
So how is cocaine considered performance enhancing, and why does it matter when they took it?

What is cocaine and is it performance enhancing?

Once consumed, cocaine increases the level of a chemical in the brain called dopamine – a messenger molecular that is associated with pleasure and reward.
A surge in dopamine is responsible for feelings of euphoria, heightened energy, and alertness, which makes cocaine highly sought-after for recreational purposes.
When used during sport, cocaine is considered to have performance enhancing effects and is prohibited under the World Anti-Doping Code and listed under the Substances of Abuse Category.

Recreational (out of competition) vs performancing-enhancing (in-competition) use

As a result, instead of a ban from competing, the court gave them 12-month conditional release orders, with no convictions recorded.
Under the AFL’s anti-doping code, a finding of using cocaine for performance enhancement could come with a four-year ban.
If he was found to have used it for only recreational purposes, not on game day, the ban would instead just be one or three months.

Can urine testing determine when someone took cocaine?

Intact cocaine can remain detectable in urine for periods up to 15 days, and BZE can be detectable up to 25 days.
To determine the date of cocaine use, the concentration of intact drug in the athlete’s urine, and possibly the BZE concentration, need to be considered.
But there are fundamental flaws in making these comparisons to determine when an athlete took cocaine.

Why is cocaine still considered performance-enhancing?

While it’s unlikely an athlete can genuinely get an athletic edge on their rivals by taking cocaine, it is still on Sports Integrity Australia’s Prohibited List because “all prohibited substances are added to the Prohibited List because they meet two of the three following criteria”:
Athletes really are risking a lot for minimal (if any) athletic reward when they take cocaine – not just the health risks, but the possibility of getting caught with a substance that is extremely unlikely to improve their on-field performances.
Nial Wheate has previously appeared as an expert witness for an athlete accused by Sport Integrity Australia of in-competition cocaine use. Shoohb Alassadi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Businesswoman and women’s advocate Samantha Mostyn to be Australia’s next governor-general

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Announcing Mostyn’s appointment on Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mostyn was a “modern and optimistic leader for our modern and optimistic nation”.

Key Points:

Announcing Mostyn’s appointment on Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mostyn was a “modern and optimistic leader for our modern and optimistic nation”.
Mostyn is the second woman to hold the post, following Quentin Bryce who was appointed by the Rudd Labor government.
Trained as a lawyer, Mostyn has had extensive experience in business, especially in telecommunications and insurance locally and globally.
She presently is chair of AWARE Super and Alberts Music Group and is on the Mirvac board.
Mostyn has been a strong advocate on climate change and on women’s issues and has long had strong Labor connections.
I spent time listening carefully to single mothers and domestic violence survivors, and shared coffees and stories in men’s sheds.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Australian rugby has reached its lowest point. How did it get here?

Retrieved on:

Monday, September 25, 2023

This represents Australia’s worst result in a World Cup match and its biggest-ever losing margin to Wales.

Key Points:

This represents Australia’s worst result in a World Cup match and its biggest-ever losing margin to Wales.
And it will almost certainly end Australia’s 2023 World Cup campaign at the group stage for the first time.

Sport Management 101: Investing in grassroots and junior development

The AFL understands this investment in the grassroots level is not only vital to producing the next batch of superstar players, but also key to ensuring the sport remains embedded within local communities.
Rugby Australia has not valued this necessity, with World Cup results illustrating the deleterious impact of falling behind competitors when it comes to grassroots investment.
We discovered the code’s professionalisation in the mid-1990s resulted in a drastic shift in how the organisation spent its money.
A clear implication from the analysis was a significant divestment from grassroots development in the past 20 years.
In 2001, 13.76% of Rugby Australia expenditure (A$7.06 million) related to community rugby.

Fighting a losing battle for talent

Read more:
Are the Wallabies' struggles a sign of rugby union's decline in Australia?
This is particularly the case for Pasifika rugby players, for whom maximising professional incomes is tied to familial and cultural priorities.
The salary caps (the total value a team can spend on player salaries) of the codes are instructive.
Poor Wallaby performances will only drive up the cost of buying established talent.

Where to next for rugby union in Australia?

Rugby Australia is in an increasingly perilous market position, with declining on-field performance only adding to a vicious spiral of downward pressures.
It was announced in recent days that Rugby Australia has disengaged from private equity discussions on account of disappointing valuations.
In 1996, rugby union’s overall revenue ($21 million) was a quarter of the AFL’s ($85 million).
Rugby Australia’s semi-professional women’s rugby program is now firmly behind both other national rugby unions, as well as the many vibrant domestic women’s leagues such as the Women’s Big Bash League, AFLW and NRLW.

New study highlights the brain trauma risks for young athletes

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

The Boston University CTE Center today reported the results of the largest-ever study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in young athletes.

Key Points:

The Boston University CTE Center today reported the results of the largest-ever study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in young athletes.
The study, examining autopsied tissue, found signs of CTE in 63 out of 152 young athlete brains.
The subjects of the study competed in youth, high school and college competitions, and all died before the age of 30.

CTE and young athletes

However, some high-profile cases of CTE have been identified among younger athletes.
In Australia, much-loved NRL player and coach Paul Green was 49 when he died and was later found to have CTE.
The risk factors for young athletes are complex and multifaceted but it is likely that playing junior contact sport heightens an athlete’s risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases as an adult.
For the athletes in the Boston University study to develop CTE before the age of 30, it is likely they were exposed to repeated brain trauma from an early age through youth sport.

Are contact sports safe for kids?

Public health advocates in North America, Australia, New Zealand Aotearoa and the United Kingdom have long expressed concerns about the risks of contact sport for children.
Improved oversight would go some way toward reducing the serious health risks of mild traumatic brain injury (concussion).

First steps

To protect them from the disease, contact sporting bodies must reduce young athletes’ lifetime exposure to brain trauma.
One way to do this would be to restrict contact in training and games for juniors.
Some sporting bodies have already taken the initial steps.
Australian Rules football players are restricted to modified tackling until the age of 12.
The National Rugby League will soon implement a ban on tackling until midway through under-7s competitions.

Just the beginning: 7 ways the Women's World Cup can move the dial on women's sport forever

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

The Women’s World Cup has also delivered an estimated A$7.6 billion boost to the Australian economy.

Key Points:

The Women’s World Cup has also delivered an estimated A$7.6 billion boost to the Australian economy.
But, as anyone in and around women’s football knows, the Women’s World Cup needs to be more than a four-week football festival.
It needs to move the dial on the treatment of, and investment in, women’s sport, including with the following big-ticket items.

1. Celebrate and extend the cultural shift

Encouraging and continuing this cultural shift will be equally, if not more, game-changing.
We must cement such a shift with good policy and investment to promote further inclusion.

2. Acknowledge no single event can fix everything

No single sport event can neatly address all gender equality issues (we’ve heard such optimism and hype around women’s sport and its gender-equality-advancing ability before).
So while it’s important to celebrate the wins, it’s equally important to recognise the tournament isn’t the endgame but an important next step.

3. Use the data to align value with investment

Until recently, the absence of investment in women’s football and the failure to broadcast matches meant the resulting data have only ever shown us what women’s football is not.
That lack of data is also why broadcasters were able to lowball FIFA when it was trying to sell the 2023 Women’s World Cup broadcast rights.

4. Invest in gender-specific research and gear

Oft-cited research confirms women are up to eight times more likely to suffer ACL injuries than men.
But there remains little women-specific research into ACL injury causes, much less prevention.
This is symptomatic of wider issues around research overlooking women.
If ever there were something that summed up how women’s football simultaneously excels while being thwarted, this is it.

5. Appoint women to senior positions, but avoid the 'glass cliff’

This tournament needs to open the door for women to be making decisions for women’s sport.
We need to steer clear of the “glass cliff” phenomenon – where women are awarded senior positions only during tumult and the men who usually hold those roles are abandoning ship.

6. Pay them properly

But there remains one key missing element for them, as it is for all women’s sports: pay and prize money commensurate with their contributions and talent.
The latter won the netball World Cup last week but received no pay and no bonuses for their efforts.
However, FIFA Women’s World Cup prize money, still a fraction of the men’s prize money, remains the elephant in the room.

7. ‘Correct the internet’

This has happened across many domains, including women’s football.
For example, often the historical record has seen football records such as the world’s leading international goalscorer misattributed to men.

Australian researchers confirm world’s first case of dementia linked to repetitive brain trauma in a female athlete

Retrieved on:

Monday, July 3, 2023

Researchers at the Australian Sports Brain Bank have today reported the world’s first diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a female athlete.

Key Points:

Researchers at the Australian Sports Brain Bank have today reported the world’s first diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a female athlete.
Heather’s family donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank hoping to better understand why she died.

What is chronic traumatic encephalopathy?

It is increasingly associated with athletes who play contact sports, such as football, boxing and martial arts.
Athletes with long careers in contact sport are at particular risk, especially if they play from an early age.
Read more:
Repeated head injury may cause degenerative brain disease for people who play sport – juniors and amateurs included

A sporting life

She played representative football in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory before being drafted into the inaugural season of the AFLW in 2017.
Anderson played a single season with the Adelaide Crows, during which she won a premiership and suffered a career-ending shoulder injury.

Was this diagnosis expected?

The Australian Sports Brain Bank team believe Anderson is a “sentinel case” we can learn from.
Although Australian women have historically been excluded from the sports most associated with repeated head injuries, this is changing.

Are women more prone to CTE than men?

There is emerging evidence that women are at significantly higher risk of mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) and may suffer more severe symptoms.
Concussion alone does not cause CTE, but an athlete’s number of concussions is a reliable indicator of their cumulative exposure to brain trauma, which is the biggest predictor of CTE.
Given their growth in participation and the enhanced risks they face in sport, it is concerning that women and girls are underrepresented in concussion research.

A disease that does not discriminate

This world-first report of CTE in a female athlete is proof the disease does not discriminate and lends urgency to calls for greater representation of women in brain injury studies.
Efforts to reduce concussion in women’s sport must first address resource inequalities between men’s and women’s sport.
This includes giving women access to quality training and coaching support, as well as greater attention from sport science and medical research.

The antithesis of healing: the AFL turns away from truth-telling again, ending Hawthorn investigation

Retrieved on:

Thursday, June 1, 2023

The Indigenous-led ceremony was a deeply moving instance of community care, love and solidarity.

Key Points:

The Indigenous-led ceremony was a deeply moving instance of community care, love and solidarity.
Tuesday’s announcement by the AFL of the termination of the investigation into allegations of racism at Hawthorn was the antithesis of such healing.
The AFL has also hinted it may charge Hawthorn with bringing the game into disrepute over its handling of the internal report.

Sorry timing

It’s hard not to be cynical about the release of this news after the conclusion of the Sir Doug Nicholls “Indigenous round”, and Sorry Day.
If the allegations are true, it could be argued the Hawthorn officials who were involved thought they were acting in the “best interests” of the players.
How could the AFL not wish to find out the truth of the matter when the allegations concern such egregious conduct?
Outgoing AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan also claimed that the defendants had been “cleared” and the complainants “feel heard”.

(Not) listening to Indigenous voices

Yet, in electing to set up its own investigation into the allegations of racism at Hawthorn, the AFL was clearly going against the voices of key Indigenous women at the centre of these allegations.
The erasure of Indigenous women’s voices and experiences is also emblematic of life on this continent.
Indigenous women in Australia are eight times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women, yet the violence they experience receives far less attention.

Truth-telling

What’s clearly needed is for the AFL to engage in a full process of truth-telling.
The AFL Players Association is the most recent group to note that the AFL’s investigation into Hawthorn was “not truly independent”.
Incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has proclaimed he is not part of a (white) boys club.

The AFL needs real cultural change. Can the new chief deliver it?

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

A long, competitive recruitment process to name a new Australian Football League chief executive has concluded with the appointment of an AFL insider.

Key Points:

A long, competitive recruitment process to name a new Australian Football League chief executive has concluded with the appointment of an AFL insider.
By its own admission, the AFL has chosen a safe pair of hands in Andrew Dillon.

The bold pick: a woman in the role

The AFL had a chance to name a woman to the role, with an excellent candidate in Kylie Watson-Wheeler.
The AFL continues to see double-digit growth in women’s grassroots football participation, in addition to sizeable commercial gains and future possibilities emanating from the AFL Women’s League.
Of the eight current serving AFL commissioners, two are also women (Helen Milroy and Gabrielle Trainor).
But only time will tell if we will see real change in the codes’ hiring decisions.

Sexual harassment on and off the field

Sports journalist Michael Warner’s 2021 book, The Boys Club: Power, Politics and the AFL, unearthed numerous egregious claims about the game’s treatment of female administrators.
As is often the case in male-dominated organisations, women’s voices have been quieted in the AFL through the use of payouts and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) when they’ve made complaints of sexual harassment or bullying.
There are dangers for women on the field, as well.

Racism and homophobia need to be dealt with, too

Although he mentioned getting “the right outcome at the right time”, his statement lacked any mention of the deep personal costs and ongoing trauma for the people involved.
And last month, in a span of less than 24 hours, racial and homophobic abuse was directed at four separate AFL players.
Will his leadership be bold enough and his team diverse enough to put real action behind the promises?

Devils in the detail: an economist argues the case for a Tasmanian AFL team – and new stadium

Retrieved on:

Monday, May 1, 2023

A new stadium is the last of 11 AFL requirements for a Tasmanian club to become the league’s 19th team, joining ten Victorian clubs and two each from the other four states.

Key Points:

A new stadium is the last of 11 AFL requirements for a Tasmanian club to become the league’s 19th team, joining ten Victorian clubs and two each from the other four states.
The Tasmanian government wants the stadium, which it will own, to anchor a new “arts and sports” precinct.
Without an AFL team and new stadium, Tasmania is likely to still have a homeless problem.
In fact, the problem may even be worse without economic activity the new team and stadium will bring.

Economic rationale

The rationale for the federal and state governments is that a new stadium is a precondition for a Tasmanian AFL, and that both together will generate $2.2 billion in economic activity over 25 years according to Tasmanian government.
The Tasmanian government estimates construction will generate $300 million in economic activity and 4,200 jobs.
It expects the stadium when operational to sustain 950 jobs and generate $85 million in economic activity a year.

The case for a Tassie team

In assessing this decision, we can’t just consider the business case for the stadium.
It’s about the case for a Tasmanian AFL club.
The percentage of Tasmanians that only follow the AFL is 35%, compared to the national average of 19%.
Read more:
The Barassi Line: a globally unique divider splitting Australia's footy fans

More than the bottom line

It’s sort of a blend of strict financial business and not for profit […] If we wanted just to make money, our model would be quite different.
It’s about more than just the bottom line.
The entry of the Tassie Devils into the AFL can be justified on economic, social and (most of all) footy grounds.

Liberty Helps More Women Step Onto the Property Ladder

Retrieved on:

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Woman, CoreLogic, Women's Trade Union League (UK), Industry, Credit, AFLW, Man, Liberty, GLOBE, Real estate

The percentage of independent women buyers increased by 0.9% to 28.3% in 2020, compared to men at 29% for the same period.

Key Points:

The percentage of independent women buyers increased by 0.9% to 28.3% in 2020, compared to men at 29% for the same period.
But working with an experienced mortgage broker can help any borrower to get onto the property ladder sooner.
We are very conscious of fostering strong women representation in the industry to help encourage and empower more women into their own homes."
Liberty Financial Pty Ltd ACN 077 248 983 and Secure Funding Pty Ltd ABN 25 081 982 872 Australian Credit Licence 388133, together trading as Liberty Financial.