Illinois mulls steriod testing for high schools

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Chicago Heights Bloom Athletics Director Joe Reda says it's time steroid testing trickles down from big-league and college sports to Illinois high schools, but weeding out cheaters is the least of his worries.\n"My opinion on cheating or not cheating is that I don't have one. But when kids feel the pressure to alter their bodies at such an impressionable age, it's just not a good situation. It's about health, not competition," said Reda, who heads sports programs at the 3,500-student school.\nThe Illinois High School Association is considering random testing for steroids and growth hormones in state finals for football, basketball, track and other selected sports, perhaps within the next two years.\nPlayers who fail tests would be banned for a year and would have to pass a follow-up test before returning under a policy being discussed by IHSA officials. Athletes who refuse testing would not be allowed to compete.\nTesting would not be completed until championships conclude, so athletes who fail would forfeit medals in individual sports, such as track and swimming. Schools would not give up trophies in football, basketball and other team sports if players test positive.\nOnly one other state, New Jersey, has a steroid-testing policy for high school athletes. Officials there are launching a $90,000 program this fall that will randomly test 500 athletes for about 80 banned substances ranging from amphetamines to steroids.\nIHSA assistant executive director Kurt Gibson says testing would discourage high schoolers from using the harmful drugs and also maintain competitive balance among the Bloomington-based organization's 750 member schools.\n"If somebody's getting an advantage because they've been taking steroids ... that's something that we need to take a stand against," Gibson said.\nSome school officials and athletes are already lining up behind the proposal, which could be presented to schools for feedback in November then go to the IHSA board for a vote by spring.\n"It would tell everybody the risk and that they won't be able to play if they take it," said Marcus Trisler, a junior lineman on Bloomington's high school football team.\nOthers wonder whether the proposed program is worth a cost estimated at $175 per test. Because testing would be random, even supporters suspect some athletes might roll the dice, gambling that they wouldn't be picked for urine samples.\n"People drink and drive. Is there a fear of getting caught? Yeah. But it doesn't always stop them," said Peoria Central athletics director Chris Perry.\nOthers say early testing could help prevent athletes from taking steroid use with them into college athletics or the pros.\n"This would be a positive step. Some of the concerns raised by the use of supplements and anabolic steroids starts at the high school level, and testing at that level is the start of getting better control of the issue," said University of Illinois athletics director Ron Guenther.\nIn 2003, the American Medical Association reported youth steroid use was on the rise, increasing from 2.1 percent of high school seniors in 1991 to 4 percent in 2002. Use is highest among athletes, who officials say are driven by both a desire to excel and dreams of moving on to college or the pros.\n"You not only get that edge, but you get that notoriety, you get seen and all of a sudden you've got a scholarship on your table. That's a big lure," the IHSA's Gibson said.\nAMA officials agree that steroid use is best stopped early, but question whether money for expensive testing programs would be better spent on education. They also worry that testing could label kids, especially if initial positive tests prove inaccurate.\n"We're not endorsing testing programs, though we're not opposing them either. We just think there are concerns that need to be addressed," said AMA president-elect Dr. Ron Davis, a preventive medicine physician in Detroit.\nGibson said the IHSA ramped up educational programs on steroids this fall but decided testing also needs to be considered "to maintain the integrity of our tournaments."\nTesting costs are a big worry among school officials, who say money is tight as state funding has declined. Gibson said the IHSA would look into private grants and other funding sources, but it does not intend to pass the costs along to schools.\n"We'd love to have $175 to give to our classroom teachers, let alone for a steroid test," said Todd Arnold, athletics director in Altamont, a 530-student school in central Illinois.\nOfficials say the extent of steroid use in high school sports is anybody's guess. No Illinois schools currently test for steroids, though at least 75 have testing programs for alcohol and drugs, according to an IHSA survey.\n"There's a lot of rumors around, but I couldn't tell you of any proof. People always assume. Until they do some testing, you never know," said Randy Malinowski, whose son plays football at Bloomington.\nIn the meantime, Illinois and other states are closely watching New Jersey, which will begin testing later this fall during the state's tennis finals.\nBob Baly, assistant director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, said it could take years to gauge the program's success, but he thinks the threat of tests will have an immediate impact on steroid use.