UIL taking its time with steroid testing program

The University Interscholastic League has taken the cautionary approach of giving parents, coaches and students enough time to comment on what is being billed as the largest steroid testing program of its kind once implemented.

The UIL hoped to begin testing — which is required by law to start by the end of the 2007-08 school year — during the football season, but it is still ironing out details and also has not awarded a contract to one of 14 companies that bid on the program.

“We need to make sure that anything we outline as protocol for the testing that whoever we select is agreeable to the protocol,” UIL spokeswoman Kim Rogers said. “All of this we are developing from scratch. Once we get a protocol, we will select a company. Then we will put it up online and allow people to comment on it.”

The UIL, the governing body of the state’s high school athletics, has not asked for feedback on the program and has not determined if the public comment period will last 14 or 21 days. The UIL hopes that by opening a forum, it will reveal unforeseen problems and educate the public on the testing program.

“This is a brand new program,” Rogers said. “It will probably be the largest program in the world. We want to make sure everyone is aware of how it’s going to take place and what happens if someone is selected for testing.”

Rogers declined to give a time frame as to when it will begin the comment period, when it will award the testing contract or when the testing will begin. There was no specific date as to when the program was supposed to start.

Earlier this year state lawmakers voted to spend $3 million per year on a steroid testing program that will be conducted randomly among 25,000 student athletes per year and is expected to be a larger program than the Olympics and the NCAA.

The proposed penalty for testing positive is a suspension from athletics for 30 school days.

“I think some people thought the UIL was going to be able to turn this on and off like a water faucet,” said Joe Rodriguez, Brownsville school district athletic director and one of the Valley’s regional representatives to the UIL. “This is a big undertaking. This is going to cost a lot of money, and they need to do it right. We are talking about $3 million here. That is going to make someone rich.”

Steroid use and the severe physical and emotional consequences that come with it are well documented. Rodriguez agrees with allowing the public to comment on the program but said the testing needed to go further.

“I think (the UIL) should test for steroids,” Rodriguez said. “No one wants anyone to do steroids, but the bigger problem is (recreational) drugs and alcohol. I think if they are going to test anabolic steroids, I would think you would need to test for all drugs.”

Peter Rasmussen covers high school sports for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448.