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Texas high school athletes must pay for steroids retesting
Texas high school athletes must pay for steroids retesting, By: Gary Scharrer
High school athletes must pay for the follow-up
July 28, 2007
AUSTIN — Texas high school athletes will have to pay for a follow-up test if they want to fight a positive reading for steroids under the state's new testing program.
State officials said it's common practice for athletes to pay for such follow-ups and stipulated the policy when they solicited bids for the testing project.
That surprised Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, author of the new steroid-testing law.
"I have never entertained the idea, nor was it my intent that the student would pay for part of the testing," he said Friday.
Janek said he plans to speak to University Interscholastic League officials, who are responsible for implementing the testing regime.
The cost of retesting a student athlete's urine sample has not been determined, but one state official said it would likely exceed the estimated $129 for the standard steroid test. The state will pay for the first round of testing.
Professional athletes, such as cyclist Floyd Landis, have the resources to pay for retesting, "but when you are looking at high school kids and amateurs, it's a different story," said Jeff Kloster, Texas Education Agency associate commissioner for health and safety.
That's why Kloster does not want the state to rush into its testing program until it can inform student athletes and their families about steroids, and dietary supplements, which can cause a positive steroid test and which Kloster and other experts urge student athletes to avoid.
"If we educate, you then tell that person, 'You are responsible for what you put into your body,' " he said.
"Is there enough education out there today? No. Not tomorrow either. November would be a better time" for starting the steroid testing, Kloster said.
Janek said he agrees on the need for adequate education.
"Testing grabs the attention, but the education part is very, very important — education about steroids in general, about the program and the test, and what's expected," Janek said.
Lawmakers have appropriated $3 million a year to randomly test about 23,000 students starting with the 2007-08 school year. The UIL is proposing a 30-day suspension of any high school athlete who tests positive for steroids.
Retesting is not expected to affect many students and should be offered at a reasonable cost, said Mark Cousins, UIL athletic coordinator.
"It only becomes an issue if a student tests positive and if the 'A' test confirmation is also positive and then they want to challenge or appeal," Cousins said. "Once we sit down with the vendor, we will discuss those things and, certainly, that cost will be an issue that will be discussed."
Test procedure standard
The Texas steroid testing procedure will be fairly common, with a student athlete's urine sample divided into "A" and "B" sealed containers. Only the "A" sample will be unsealed and analyzed. If the "A" screening result is positive, a confirmation test will be conducted on a new test from the same container.
Only if the "A" confirmation test is positive will the results be reported to appropriate authorities. At that point, athletes would be entitled to have the "B" sample analyzed at their own expense.
The random testing program will likely result in 1 percent or 2 percent of the samples testing positive, said Frank Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, the country's largest drug-testing company. Assuming 23,000 samples, that would mean between 230 and 460 positive test results. But Uryasz said he could not estimate how many of the positives would come from dietary supplements.
Fall testing possible
Texas will become the first state to randomly test all high school athletes for steroid use. New Jersey began random steroid tests last year on high school athletes competing in state championship games. Of 150 samples collected, none tested positive.
Florida will spend $100,000 this coming school year on a random steroid test of 1 percent of high school athletes competing in football, baseball and weightlifting.
The Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 8 this spring, setting up the program.
State officials are not sure when they will launch the testing program, although they hope to do so this fall. They will start evaluating 14 bid proposals submitted by testing companies. The deadline was Friday.
"It's way too early to start talking about when that's going to occur since we haven't even awarded a contract or picked a vendor yet," Cousins said.
A late fall testing start would be in time for high school football playoffs.
High school athletes and their parents will have to sign consent forms, which will carry warnings about the possibility of dietary supplements triggering positive steroid test results. Coaches also will be provided a DVD presentation on steroids.
"It would be my hope that coaches, in earnest, sit down with each of the student athletes and say, 'You need to watch this, and you need to pay attention,' " Kloster said.
The stigma also could affect college scholarship opportunities. In the DVD video, University of Texas Coach Mack Brown said the Longhorns wouldn't recruit high school prospects who use steroids.
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