INSPO Fitness Journal June 2017

Gambling has become so entrenched in
sporting culture that it isn’t surprising that
players are exposed to it. But what is it that
makes athletes so susceptible to gambling
problems?
Tony Lindquist, counsellor at the Problem
Gambling Foundation of New Zealand,
said professional sports players often have
ready access to large sums of money and that
is part of the problem.
“With more money available to them the
problem or habit for the athlete has become
really cemented before it is recognised as
problematic,” he says.
‘If they are actually betting on sports, they
tend to gamble with larger sums of money
than pokie players. Problem sports bettors
will wager large amounts, for example, from
between $100 to $5000 in one bet, as they
start to chase their losses.”
Sports players also use gambling as a
form of escapism from the stress in their
lives and even from boredom, as they regularly
have time on their hands particularly
when travelling away from home.
A recent study conducted by Graeme Law
from the University of Chester in the United
Kingdom, involved interviewing 34 current
and former professional football players.
His research, that he conducted as part of
his PhD, found that many players were under-performing
because they were worried
about their losses from gambling.
Mr Law said that players gambled to relieve
the boredom on trips to away games and
after training. He was told of one 18-year-old
player who lost about $2000 on the way to a
game and ‘he had a shocker of a game’.
The competitive nature of athletes also
comes into play and fuels the drive to win
that can very easily begin the downward
spiral into harmful gambling.
Once this has happened, shame and
stigma can prevent someone from reaching
out for help or even sharing the problem.
This is particularly so with high profile sports
players.
Unfortunately, reaching out for help often
doesn’t happen until someone has hit rock
bottom. As we’ve seen in the headlines, for
sports stars that can also be accompanied
with intense media scrutiny.
Tony Lindquist says helping someone
overcome a gambling problem is different
for every individual.
“The gambler needs to acknowledge that
his behaviour is having a detrimental effect
on his life and move from thinking about his
behaviour into a stage of doing something
about it,” he says.
“It’s important when working with someone
who plays sports at an elite level to try
and treat them the same as anyone else and
provide the same level of care and understanding.
“Of course it may be that the intense media
scrutiny has contributed to the harmful
gambling so this may be an area to address
or manage in the future to reduce the risk of
relapse.”
Tony says relapse prevention is really
important; being aware of old behaviours
resurfacing, having a support network and
ensuring that the gambler doesn’t fall back
into old patterns of behaviour.
There’s no doubt that being in the public
eye adds another layer of stress for anyone
battling an addiction. But their stories they
so bravely share act as a reminder that the
heroes we idolise are human and that a gambling
problem doesn’t discriminate; it can
happen to anyone.
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INSPO – FITNESS JOURNAL JUNE 2017
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