Texas plans to test students for steroids

AUSTIN, Texas -- 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.

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.

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 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.