CIS: Zettler reaches for the ‘roids


Police investigation of 23-year-old Waterloo Warrior forces coach to drug test his entire Canadian University football varsity team.

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Nathan Zettler wrote on his Facebook page: “Don’t let ’em hold you down, reach for the stars.” Unfortunately for the former University of Waterloo football player, his decision to reach for performance-enhancing drugs has led to charges of possession and intent to traffic.
The 23-year-old Zettler was officially charged Friday and will be in court this week following a police investigation that snared two other Warrior players – Matthew Valeriote, who has been suspended from the team, and Eric Legare, who played at Waterloo several years ago.
Zettler was banned from campus on March 31 after school officials were informed he was linked to a stash of anabolic steroids with the purpose of trafficking. The police discovery forced Waterloo athletic director Bob Copeland to drug test the entire football team. The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport conducted the tests and took specimens from athletes at McMaster and Guelph and will soon do the same at Wilfrid Laurier.
It is believed at least one athlete at Waterloo has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and is discussing matters with the university. The CCES test results are not due until the week of April 26.
“This is an unfortunate thing but I don’t think it’s a sign of the times or more than an isolated incident,” Guelph athletic director Tom Kendall said. “The CCES came and tested six of our athletes. We’ve not had the results for that but I don’t anticipate any of our athletes would be into steroids. That would be a shock to me.”
Zettler’s alleged involvement in steroids has surprised and disappointed many. Known for his hard work, Zettler had been a receiver with the Warriors before switching to defensive back. He recently attended the Canadian Football Scouting national evaluation camp in Toronto. Duane Forde is the director of professional scouting for CFS and followed Zettler’s camp efforts, which included bench pressing 225 pounds 17 times.
“His attitude, in terms of training, was very good,” said Forde, a TSN football analyst and former CFL player. “Unfortunately, it looks as if he wasn’t going to let the hard work stand alone. It’s disappointing to see a kid willing to do the work who didn’t think that was enough.”
Zettler has also been charged with five counts of breaking and entering, possession of stolen property, use of a stolen credit card and breaching a probation order. While investigating a series of break-ins, including one at Waterloo’s School of Optometry, police found a cache of steroids (nandrolone, stanozolol, testosterone).
Along with the drugs, police recovered stolen goods valued at roughly $7,500.
Canadian Interuniversity Sport athletes are subject to random year-round testing and can be banned for four years if caught. The CIS recently issued a statement saying it has had 56 positive results from 5,800 drug tests since 1990. Forty-five of the positives have involved football players.
There has been growing talk the CIS needs to revisit its drug-testing policy, which some school officials believe is not stringent enough. There’s also hope the CFL will adopt drug testing and join in the fight against performance enhancers.

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