A University of Waterloo football player recently found with a stash of performance-enhancing drugs has been charged with possession and the intent to traffic.
Nathan Zettler, a 23-year-old defensive back from Waterloo, was charged Friday after police discovered a large amount of anabolic steroids, including nandrolone, stanozolol and testosterone, two weeks ago. The Kitchener Record has reported Zettler faces additional charges "including five counts of breaking and entering, possession of stolen property, use of a stolen credit card and breaching a probation order."
Two others were charged with Zettler, who was banned from the Waterloo campus when the police began thier investigation weeks ago. Matthew Valeriote has also been charged and suspended from the football team. A third individual, Eric Legare, was charged, too. Legare was a former high school teammate of Zettler's.
Waterloo officials opted to drug test the entire Warrior football team when informed of what police were looking into. Athletes at neighboring schools were also targeted and tested by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports. The results of those tests and are still being analyzed.
"This is an unfortunate thing but I don't think it's a sign of the times or more than an isolated incident," said Tom Kendall, the athletic director at the University of Guelph. "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."
Six athletes were also tested at McMaster.
"Our athletes are subject to random tests 12 months a year wherever they are," AD Jeff Giles said in an e-mail. "So they all took this very much in stride."
The Waterloo situation has been a topic of concern among Canadian Interuniversity Sports officials across the country. One of the primary complaints is that while the CIS tests its football players, the CFL doesn't. The CFL and its players are currently involved in discussions for a new collective agreement and drug testing is on the table.
Zettler recently attended the Canadian Football national scouting combine, where he ran and lifted weights for scouts. He finished fourth among defensive backs by bench-pressing a required weight 17 times.
Zettler is due back in court next Wednesday.