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DRUG TESTING:
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AHEAD OF THE CURVE
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ITH A CRACK OF THE BAT AND THE FIRST HINT OF SPRING, AMERICA BEGINS ANOTHER SEASON OF ITS FAVORITE PASTIME – BASEBALL.
UNFORTUNATELY, ALLEGATIONS OF STEROIDS, HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES AND OTHER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS ARE FLYING RAMPANT AND RUINING REPUTATIONS, ESPECIALLY IN BASEBALL. EVEN CONGRESS HAS JUMPED ON THE JUICE WAGON.
The result has been more regulations and mandatory drug testing for athletes from the professional ranks to high schools. The NCAA conducts drug testing for its Division I and II schools, but NCAA Division III, the non-scholarship division that Texas Lutheran belongs to, does not perform drug testing until post-season play.
This spring, TLU will launch its own random drug testing program for its student-athletes, testing for over 100 banned substances as determined by the NCAA (www.ncaa.org) including anabolic steroids, stimulants, human growth hormones, alcohol, and street drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.
Bill Miller, director of athletics, explained that it has taken about a year for the policy to be developed and implemented. There were numerous meetings of the athletic committee and administration, extensive legal review, and several revisions to make the policy fair and to ensure that it will achieve the intended purpose.
“We see the drug policy as a good thing that will benefit our student athletes,” said Miller. “Even though we already provide them with information, it will make them more knowledgeable about the issues and provide a deterrent to avoid giving in to peer pressure.”
Brian Coulombe, director of the athletic training program at TLU, is in charge of administering the tests. He explained that TLU will randomly pick student athletes from its 14 teams to test. The tests can occur up to four times a year.
“Those who are selected will be tested using an oral swab. The results of the sample will appear in five minutes,” he said. “If anyone tests positive, we collect a second sample and send it out to an independent lab. If that tests positive then we move forward with discipline.”
The discipline is a three stepprocess, Miller explained. After a first confirmed positive test, the student athlete is suspended from team activities for a specified time, depending on the sport, and is required to attend drug-counseling sessions. The student-athlete must retest as negative at his or her own expense before being reinstated to team activities.
A second offense results in a one year suspension and more counseling. If a student athlete has a third positive test during his or her career at TLU, permanent suspension from the TLU athletic program will follow.
“They don’t really understand the damage that drugs can do physiologically,” Coulombe said. “There was a study that asked young professional athletes, ‘If you knew steroids would take five years off your life, would you still take them?’ And overwhelmingly the answer was ‘Yes.’ It’s not just a shorter life, it’s also serious health problems long before that, revealing the body’s decline. They don’t understand that at a young age. They are only looking at what they will achieve in the short run and the money they will make. They are looking at the big car.”
Miller pointed out that TLU students are like anyone else. “Do we have possible drug abuse by a few individuals – possibly, but without drug testing it is difficult to hold any student accountable. We all have problems and sometimes students in general will make poor choices. Maybe this will help them get to a counselor and help solve their problems.”
Coulombe added, “There may be some students who have a problem – this includes both athletes and nonathletes; we are no different from other schools. Decision making at that age is not always wise – my personal opinion is that if anything shows up, it will be recreational - not on the steroid side.”
Miller explained that NCAA Division III does have random drug testing for teams who get to the NCAA championship regional tournaments. “I’ll just use a personal experience. We’ve been to the West Regional baseball tournament three years in a row – and of all those years, we were only tested one time and then we had four or five players randomly tested.”
Currently DIII is conducting a pilot study and has selected a few schools to test. Miller said that he believes the division will institute random drug tests for all DIII schools in the next three years or so.
Miller emphasized that TLU will continue to do its own drug testing. “We’re just trying to do our part to make sure our athletes represent Texas Lutheran in a positive way and try to prevent negative behavior. It is a very worthy thing.”
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