Details set for steroid testing, By: Brad Milner
August 4, 2007
Statewide steroid testing is ready to go.
The Florida High School Athletic Association this week released final details on the pilot program that will test up to 1 percent of all athletes in several sports for various forms of anabolic steroids, as well as masking agents.
House Bill 461 signed by Gov. Charlie Crist on June 19 included football, boys and girls weightlifting and baseball. The FHSAA since added softball and girls flag football to the list.
The pilot program allots $100,000 for the testing. The bill gives the FHSAA leeway in that regard by allowing testing in as few as one of the sports because of the amount of funding.
The FHSAA contracted with the National Center for Drug Free Support, Inc. to administer the tests. Specimens will be analyzed at UCLA’s Olympic Laboratory, which is certified by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
FHSAA member schools are required to submit rosters for each of the tested sports, with football the first due by Aug. 22. The FHSAA will forward those rosters to Drug Free Sport, which will randomly select schools and athletes to be tested. The first round of tests could start as early as September.
Once the random lists are compiled, Drug Free Sport will notify the school’s administration and the FHSAA Office at least seven days in advance of when a urine sample collector will visit the campus. Once there, the collector will notify the front office of the names of tested athletes.
The athletes will be summoned to the front office. Athletes will be taken to a private room and required to provide the specimen.
The lab will divide the specimen into “A” and “B” samples. The “A” sample will be tested. The “B” sample will be retained, but only tested in the event of a positive result on the “A” test and only when an appeal is made.
Findings of each test will be supplied to the FHSAA within two weeks. The FHSAA will notify member schools of the results.
Athletes who test positive will be suspended for 90 school days, with the suspension beginning on the first day the school is notified. A follow-up test will be administered in 60 days. A negative test at that time will result in reinstatement, while another positive test continues the suspension until another test can be given at a later date.
The FHSAA will pay for the initial test and the secondary test after 60 days. Any further tests, including ones performed on the “B” sample after an appeal, will be paid for by the athlete’s family. If the appeal test is negative the FHSAA will reimburse the cost.
The final piece of the program relates to athlete’s privacy. A positive test will not reflect badly on an athlete’s educational record, nor can it be used in any criminal prosecution. Results of the tests also are excluded from Florida’s public records law.
This brings into question a sticky point among media and coaches. If a player is suspended, it will be obvious he is not in the game, which will raise questions.
Coaches will not be allowed to comment on the situation, and no reasonable conclusion other than the player was not in the game can be drawn without proof. References to the player’s absence could bring on undue scrutiny from the public without an explanation, and perhaps could lead to colorful answers from coaches as to why they aren’t playing.
The pilot program will end Oct. 2, 2008. The Florida Legislature will sift through the findings and revisit the plan, with the possibility of instituting a broader testing program in the future.
