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UIL approves steroid testing rules, penalties

AUSTIN — Texas' new steroid testing program for public high school athletes moved closer to getting started with the approval Thursday of testing rules, penalties and the appeals process.

Officials also said a vendor to conduct the tests should be announced within the next few days. The University Interscholastic League, the state's governing body of public high school sports charged with running the program, hopes to conduct tests at least twice by the end of the school year.

The Legislature mandated the tests in May, and with the goal of testing about 20,000 students annually it will be the nation's largest high school steroid testing program.

The program rules must still be approved by the Texas Education Agency. Jeff Kloster, TEA associate commissioner, said the agency is expected to endorse the plan as early as next week.

Patti Ohlendorf, vice president of legal affairs at the University of Texas, which helped develop the program, said a company has been selected to collect and test urine samples.

A formal announcement will come after the $6 million contract is finalized. Ohlendorf wouldn't name the company but said it "has a lot of experience and will do a great job."

Fourteen companies submitted bids in July to run the testing program. Among them is the National Center for Drug Free Sport, which conducts testing for the NCAA, New Jersey and Florida.

Frank Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, declined comment when asked if his company was chosen.

Another bidder was Houston-based Pinnacle Medical Management Corp., which already conducts drug testing for about 5,000 Texas students a month under separate programs. President and CEO Harvey Graves said his group has not been contacted about its bid for the UIL program.

Graves expects the contract to go to the National Center for Drug Free Sport.

The rules approved Thursday "are taken directly from that group," Graves said. "It would seem very unlikely they were picking us and they were not contacting us."

State lawmakers wanted testing to begin in time for the football season, but the program took much longer to develop than expected, said UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt.

"We were a little naive thinking we could begin back in September," Breithaupt said.

Uryasz and officials at several drug testing companies had previously said testing could begin almost as soon as a contract is awarded.

Ohlendorf and Mark Cousins, UIL athletic coordinator, said officials hope to conduct at least two rounds of testing before the end of May.

The program is designed to randomly test students around the state.

The rules adopted Thursday require the testing company to randomly select schools, which will then supply a list of student-athletes participating in all sports.

The testing company will randomly select athletes who will be pulled out of class to provide a urine sample. A positive test will result in a 30-day suspension from sports. To return to play, the athlete must pass another drug test.

A second positive test brings a one-year ban and a third results in a permanent suspension from play.

The tests will not look for recreational drugs. UIL Executive Director Bill Farney noted that several hundred Texas schools already test for recreational and performance-enhancing drugs. Those tests will remain separate from the UIL program.

Uryasz, of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, said there is no solid data on how many high school athletes are taking steroids, but anecdotal evidence suggests it may be a wider problem than many want to admit.

The testing program can act as a deterrent, he said, and casting a net as wide as Texas plans is sure to catch someone, he said.

"If I tested 23,000 people and didn't find anything? Let's be real," Uryasz said.

Posted

"The test does not look for recreational drugs." So, basically what this means is that a student cant take a performance-enhancing drug (i.e., HGH or anabolic steroids), but said student can smoke all the marijuana he wants, test positive for a controlled substance, and it wont have an impact on whether or not he plays sports, as long as it's not steroids. Am I missing something here? IMO, if a student athlete tests positive for ANY controlled substance, from pot to meth to steroids, he should be banned from UIL events. Period. End of story.

Posted

While I dont have a problem with drug testing I do have a problem with testing a specific group of kids for a specific drug. To me this is profiling and discrimnatory and a very good basis for appeal. If the uil feels they need to test then they should test all extra-curricular activities like band, choir, one act play as well as sports, and they should test for all drugs not just steroids.

I just dont feel it it right to target a specific group.

Posted

  On 1/11/2008 at 8:32 AM, southern-thunder said:

While I dont have a problem with drug testing I do have a problem with testing a specific group of kids for a specific drug. To me this is profiling and discrimnatory and a very good basis for appeal. If the uil feels they need to test then they should test all extra-curricular activities like band, choir, one act play as well as sports, and they should test for all drugs not just steroids.

I just dont feel it it right to target a specific group.

they are obviously going after a group of kids that are most likely the ones that are using. But I agree with you in that they should test for 'recreational drugs' as well as performance enhancing drugs.
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