Executing a Reverse at Saugus

There was skeptical laughter at first, much like when a parent hears a teenager promise to take out the garbage. Saugus High students couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

The entire football team was taking a pledge not to drink, smoke or take drugs.

Many knew players who did at least one of the three last season. Everybody had heard about the player who was so drunk he drove his car off a cliff.

Now there were six players standing in front of the entire school asking fellow students to report any football player they saw breaking the pledge.

“At the beginning of the speech, everybody was laughing,” Saugus quarterback Travis Ivey said. “Then they started getting quiet and at the end, they were clapping.”

Whether every Saugus football player can fulfill the agreement to stay free of alcohol, drugs and tobacco is a big question. But having the courage to try is the real issue.

Each football season, teenagers face challenges of how to deal with victory or defeat, success or failure. The dilemma matches peer pressure against parental pressure.

It begins around 11 p.m. on Friday night at the neighborhood postgame party. A bottle of beer is brought out. Then another and another. Soon, players are watching teammates or friends consume alcohol and wondering if they should join in.

Maybe they don’t want to drink. Maybe their parents taught them to make their own decisions. Maybe their coach gave a brief talk before the season about the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

Their buddies are drinking, shouldn’t they join in?

Every week, it’s decision time. The options are many, the consequences immense. Parents are home in bed hoping their sons are mature enough to make good decisions.

At Saugus, powerful reverse peer pressure is taking place. All the football players at each level have pledged to remain substance free.

“I’m pretty proud,” Saugus defensive back Jeff Arnold said. “We still go to parties, but if you play football, you don’t drink.”

Arnold described the pressure to join the “cool” crowd at parties.

“Everyone had their beer and a lot of people smoked and people who came without beer ended up with beer because they’d wonder what it was like,” he said. “Now it makes it a lot easier [to say no].

“You signed your name. You gave a promise. You have to stick to your word.”

Ron Hilton, Saugus’ first-year coach, suggested the pledge. His players quickly embraced the idea after remembering the drinking problems from last season.

“There were a couple guys who were drinking and now they’re not drinking,” receiver David Van Duzee said. “I think that’s a big step for them.”

One Saugus senior is particularly grateful for the pledge. He has been struggling with his own drinking problem.

And what has the pledge meant to him?

“It helps me get through every day,” he said. “I have my whole team behind me.”

But when the football season ends, so does the pledge. Then the players will be on their own again. Will they have the self-confidence to ignore the crowd and make their own choice? Will they realize it’s OK to sip a soft drink instead of a Corona after a victory? Will they understand it’s OK to sit in a room listening to music after a bad game instead of releasing frustration by guzzling a beer?

Saugus players have taken a stand. Maybe they will be trend setters, maybe not. Whatever happens, the people that count most--their families and their true friends--are very proud.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.