The latest anabolic steroid testing for Texas high school students was disclosed recently by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) which is responsible for the implementation of the program. The random test which was conducted during the spring semester returned a few positive for steroids. Out of 16,260 students tested only 8 students were confirmed to be positive for the prohibited substance and 1 unresolved case due to elevated Testosterone: Epitestosterone (T:E) ratio. This will still be determined if the testosterone level was due to physiological or pathological condition of the student athlete.

The University Interscholastic League also reported 62 cases of violations of the UIL Anabolic Steroid Testing Program Protocol. These were either due to unexcused absences or due to a student-athlete’s refusal to participate in the collection process. The sport which got the highest athletes tested were football for boys and soccer for girls. The bulk of the test was made at the freshmen level.

The test includes 266 schools in Texas between January 2009 and May 2009. Majority of the test was conducted on male student athletes which totaled to 10,276 while the number of test for female athletes tested was 5,984. This steroid testing program is considered as the largest in the world with the biggest funding from the government. The state of Texas spent $3 million for the first year of implementation of this program. This year, it was scaled down to $2 million due to economic reasons and some hesitation of lawmakers about the effectiveness of the program.

During the deliberation for this year’s budget, Rep. Carl Isett who is a member of the Appropriations Committee already predicted that the positive results may be low and this will eventually prompt lawmakers to reconsider the funding for this program. “I think that’s an awful lot of money and maybe there are better ways to get at the problem,” he said. “What I would like to see is a system that makes sense, perhaps some sort of random test from time to time,” Isett added.

Under the existing anabolic steroid testing program of Texas, a student athlete who tested positive for steroids for the first time will get a 30-day suspension from all athletic events. A one year suspension will be given for second time violators while an athlete found positive for steroids for the third time will be permanently banned from participating in any sport.

The breakdown of the UIL anabolic steroid test are as follows:

Total Number of Schools: 266
Total Number of Tests: 16,260
Males: 10,276 who represented 11 categories
Females: 5,984 who represented 13 categories

Tests Conducted by Grade and Gender:

9th grade: 5117 (Males= 3,152) (Females= 1,965)
10th grade: 4624 (Males= 2,873) (Females= 1,751)
11th grade: 3799 (Males= 2,456) (Females= 1,343)
12th grade: 2712 (Males= 1,791) (Females= 921)

Tests Conducted by Sport (Males):

Baseball= 796
Basketball= 980
Cross-Country= 171
Football= 3,135
Golf= 291
Soccer= 1,114
Swimming= 235
Tennis= 418
Track & Field= 266
Wrestling= 231
Multi-sport= 2,639

Tests Conducted by Sport (Females):

Baseball= 29
Basketball= 665
Cross-Country= 157
Football= 8
Golf= 147
Soccer= 830
Softball= 665
Swimming= 248
Tennis= 487
Track & Field= 445
Volleyball= 711
Wrestling= 48
Multi-sport= 1,544

Trackback URI | Comments RSS