Drug tests are worth the price tag
State could help the IHSA ensure that all athletes compete on a level playing field
February 25, 2007
The Illinois High School Association's push toward drug testing recalls the movie catchphrase, "Show me the money!"
That's because testing has become less a matter of if or when than of how to pay the bill.
This explains why IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman didn't mind when a state senator introduced a bill Feb. 7 requiring the association to test its athletes for performance-enhancing substances, including steroids.
For one thing, the IHSA has been heading that way since August, when its board of directors told association administrators to develop a testing program for its review. And for another, an accompanying state Senate bill would provide up to $250,000 to help start such a program.
The IHSA hasn't always welcomed proposed intervention from Springfield, the recent enrollment multiplier being a prime example; but legislators always look more fetching when they bring their checkbooks.
"The funding measure would obviously be very helpful to us," Hickman said last week. "This is an expensive proposition to get into."
That's expensive as in an estimated $175 a test for a list of substances. State government, meanwhile, isn't exactly oozing spare change, but State Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) believes testing is worth it.
Lauzen, who has four athletic sons, worries about the damage teenagers can do by taking steroids and the like, and he believes in our old friend, the level playing field. That's why he approached Hickman about introducing the Fair Athletic Competition Act.
"The whole idea is we don't want to have decisions made in youth produce irreversible damage at maturity, and all of us believe competition ought to be fair," Lauzen said.
Lauzen's bills have only begun to move through the legislative process, but even if they become law, they are no panacea. That's because Lauzen is not sure how long the funding might continue. He envisions the program eventually being funded from IHSA revenues.
That might leave the IHSA short on funds, even if it finds money from some of the sources—including grants—it is currently exploring. That would only exacerbate what is already a major weakness, that the IHSA will randomly test athletes only after the state series starts and perhaps not until they reach state finals.
That's what is taking place in New Jersey, which last fall became the first state to test high school athletes for steroid use but does it only among those who have qualified for state championships.
A truly effective program, however, is year-round because otherwise athletes may avoid detection by timing their drug use to state competition. Hickman acknowledged that tying testing to such a brief, and known, period would be a problem but hopes it would be temporary.
"We needed a starting point, a way to find out how manageable this type of program is, but I agree that the most effective program would be a totally random one that goes on throughout the year," he said.
"In a perfect world we would start out there, but we need to get our feet on the ground and then maybe move in that direction."
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association will spend $100,000 this school year on its testing program. The NJSIAA will cover half the cost, with the rest coming from state funds.
The NJSIAA recently announced that no signs of performance-enhancing drugs turned up among the first 150 samples in the program.
Increasing numbers of Illinois high schools have started drug-testing programs, but Pinckneyville may have become the first to test for steroids beginning last October.
Cost is one reason others haven't done it, and according to Pinckneyville principal Jonathan Green a price break allowed the school to check for steroids for $55 a test, about half the cost otherwise. The school screens for a variety of other drugs for $5 a test.
It tests every 2˝ weeks throughout the school year, mostly among students in
IHSA-sponsored activities. Green said that among 60 students tested in the regular drug screen and eight tested for steroids, all results have been negative.
He said the steroid program helps kids avoid the temptation to take shortcuts to athletic success and gives them a way to stand up to pressure to try a banned substance.
"Peer pressure is a large part of kids doing things," he said. "Now they have a quick answer—'I'm an athlete, and we have drug testing.'"
Pinckneyville will spend about $2,000 this school year on testing. Green hopes the IHSA will join the effort because the association has access to funding that many smaller high schools don't.
Last month the IHSA board approved a list of banned substances to be used in conjunction with newly passed bylaws that prohibit coaches, administrators, school employees, and booster club members from selling, distributing, or promoting the use of steroids or performance-enhancing dietary supplements to students.
All of that is setting the table for testing. Sooner or later, though, the IHSA has to be willing to spend the money to do it right.
