LH Panther Mom
07-31-2007, 08:30 AM
Despite concerns over supplements, testing, state will test for steroids
By Rick Cantu
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
FORT WORTH — Despite concerns that over-the-counter dietary supplements could cause positive tests, steroid testing for high school athletes will begin this fall, the athletic director for the University Interscholastic League said Monday.
The plan to test 23,000 high school athletes in the upcoming academic year – about 3 percent of those playing high school sports – will be implemented in time for football season, Charles Breithaupt said at the 75th annual Texas High School Coaches Association convention.
Random steroid testing in all sports — not just football — will be conducted at 400 state high schools.
Breithaupt said there will be zero tolerance for athletes who test positive, but he does not believe the use of steroids in Texas is rampant.
Gov. Rick Perry signed the steroid testing into law in June, but urged caution, even if meant waiting until football season was over to begin the program.
Breithaupt, however, said the possibility of "false positive" results is low. He was backed by Frank Uyasz, president of the National Center For Drug Free Sport, who said a 2005 federal law classified "pro-hormones," or steroid precursors, as controlled substances, essentially banning them from diet supplements sold over the counter.
Many high school coaches said steroid testing should prevent many athletes from taking banned substances.
"It's a step in the right direction," longtime Westwood baseball coach Bart Bratcher said. "Testing a few is better than testing no one. We have no idea yet how strong a deterrent it is to test only 3 percent, but testing and ongoing education will start making a difference."
The UIL is considering proposals from contractors to implement the program.
A 30-day suspension will be placed on first-time offenders. Athletes with two positive results will be banned for one year and a third positive would bring a lifetime ban.
UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers said all Texas high schools have received a 16-minute DVD concerning steroids and testing. It includes warnings that nutritional supplements could affect test results.
A letter about the steroid tests warning concerning supplements has been sent to parents, Rogers said. They must sign the documents, agreeing to the guidelines of steroid testing, for their children to be eligible to participate.
In other UIL news, the state association is studying a plan to regroup all state classifications — from Classes 5A to A — into districts based on enrollment figures.
The football-only proposal would reduce the state's 32 athletic districts into 16. Class 5A, for example, would be spit into Divisions I and II.
The mission is to create more parity during the regular season. The measure was initiated by Wylie High School, which moved from Class 4A to 5A in 2006 but was lumped into a district with four schools with 4,000 or more students — Allen and three Plano schools.
"All the big boys would be placed together," Breithaupt said of the proposal. "They won't be feasting on the little guys anymore."
The plan would not change the number of teams that earn playoff berths, Breithaupt said.
The measure, which would need to be approved by the UIL athletic council, would not go into effect until the next realignment period, beginning with the 2008-09 academic year.
An example of the realignment plan — based on 2006 enrollment figures — will be shown to coaches today at the convention.
Also, beginning this month, every public school in the state must have at least one automatic external defibrillator on campus. About 90 percent of the state's high schools had at least one AED in the 2006-07 school year, Breithaupt said.
"AEDs are the wave of the future," said Dr. Timothy Palomera, who gave a seminar on sudden cardiac death in athletes on Monday.
rcantu@statesman.com; 445-3953
AAS link (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/07/31/0731uil.html)
By Rick Cantu
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
FORT WORTH — Despite concerns that over-the-counter dietary supplements could cause positive tests, steroid testing for high school athletes will begin this fall, the athletic director for the University Interscholastic League said Monday.
The plan to test 23,000 high school athletes in the upcoming academic year – about 3 percent of those playing high school sports – will be implemented in time for football season, Charles Breithaupt said at the 75th annual Texas High School Coaches Association convention.
Random steroid testing in all sports — not just football — will be conducted at 400 state high schools.
Breithaupt said there will be zero tolerance for athletes who test positive, but he does not believe the use of steroids in Texas is rampant.
Gov. Rick Perry signed the steroid testing into law in June, but urged caution, even if meant waiting until football season was over to begin the program.
Breithaupt, however, said the possibility of "false positive" results is low. He was backed by Frank Uyasz, president of the National Center For Drug Free Sport, who said a 2005 federal law classified "pro-hormones," or steroid precursors, as controlled substances, essentially banning them from diet supplements sold over the counter.
Many high school coaches said steroid testing should prevent many athletes from taking banned substances.
"It's a step in the right direction," longtime Westwood baseball coach Bart Bratcher said. "Testing a few is better than testing no one. We have no idea yet how strong a deterrent it is to test only 3 percent, but testing and ongoing education will start making a difference."
The UIL is considering proposals from contractors to implement the program.
A 30-day suspension will be placed on first-time offenders. Athletes with two positive results will be banned for one year and a third positive would bring a lifetime ban.
UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers said all Texas high schools have received a 16-minute DVD concerning steroids and testing. It includes warnings that nutritional supplements could affect test results.
A letter about the steroid tests warning concerning supplements has been sent to parents, Rogers said. They must sign the documents, agreeing to the guidelines of steroid testing, for their children to be eligible to participate.
In other UIL news, the state association is studying a plan to regroup all state classifications — from Classes 5A to A — into districts based on enrollment figures.
The football-only proposal would reduce the state's 32 athletic districts into 16. Class 5A, for example, would be spit into Divisions I and II.
The mission is to create more parity during the regular season. The measure was initiated by Wylie High School, which moved from Class 4A to 5A in 2006 but was lumped into a district with four schools with 4,000 or more students — Allen and three Plano schools.
"All the big boys would be placed together," Breithaupt said of the proposal. "They won't be feasting on the little guys anymore."
The plan would not change the number of teams that earn playoff berths, Breithaupt said.
The measure, which would need to be approved by the UIL athletic council, would not go into effect until the next realignment period, beginning with the 2008-09 academic year.
An example of the realignment plan — based on 2006 enrollment figures — will be shown to coaches today at the convention.
Also, beginning this month, every public school in the state must have at least one automatic external defibrillator on campus. About 90 percent of the state's high schools had at least one AED in the 2006-07 school year, Breithaupt said.
"AEDs are the wave of the future," said Dr. Timothy Palomera, who gave a seminar on sudden cardiac death in athletes on Monday.
rcantu@statesman.com; 445-3953
AAS link (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/07/31/0731uil.html)