Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jun 2006
Source: Catonsville Times (MD)
Copyright: 2006 Patuxent Publishing Company
Contact:  http://news.mywebpal.com/index.cfm?pnpid=351
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/786
Author: Craig Clary

PREP ATHLETES WON'T BE TESTED FOR DRUGS IN STATE

Preliminary approval for random testing of New Jersey  high school 
athletes next year has not sparked much  interest from Maryland 
athletic officials to follow the  Garden State's lead.

"We looked at that quite a few years ago and we studied  it to see if 
there was any merit to it, and we  determined that there wasn't," 
said Ned Sparks,  executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary 
Schools Athletic Association.

On June 7, the New Jersey State Interscholastic  Athletic Association 
finalized a plan that would  randomly test a portion of athletes who 
compete in  state championship games.

New Jersey would become the first state to implement  such a policy, 
which comes at a time when Major League  Baseball is under intense 
scrutiny for its players' use  of performance-enhancing drugs.

The prime target for the plan proposed by former Gov.  Richard Codey 
is illegal steroids, but athletes will be  tested for around 80 
banned substances.

College athletes have been tested for illegal or banned  substances 
by the National Collegiate Athletic  Association since 1986.

Several years ago, when Sparks and the Maryland State  Board 
addressed the issue, they found too many gray  areas to proceed with 
any type of drug testing.

"The bottom line is - it just became something that we  couldn't do. 
We are not the NFL or the NCAA or the  Olympics," Sparks said. "We 
don't want to look like we  are turning our heads on it, but the 
devil is in the  details.

"It was really not a practical or possible thing to do  with any kind 
of certainty."

Sparks mentioned that the process of collecting and  monitoring the 
samples would be a major concern for  officials.

"There was a study done by the state board, and we're  not leaning in 
that direction," Sparks said.

While the state association steers clear of drug  testing, one 
private school, St. Vincent Pallotti, has  not.

"We are probably the only school that has random drug  testing," said 
Rick Diggs, Pallotti's assistant  principal and the commissioner of 
the Maryland  Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The MIAA governs boys athletics in area private  schools, including 
Mount St. Joseph and Cardinal  Gibbons.

"We do it a couple of times a year. We just take 10  students 
randomly and test them. Usually, during each  session, we test at 
least one youngster for each team.  We had some schools that were 
pretty surprised that we  are doing it," he said.

According to Diggs, the random testing has been a success.

"It has worked great. We have found some kids that were  positive. It 
requires them to go into some kind of  counseling program. They have 
to be retested," he said.  "Probably two or three have tested 
positive. From what  I know, it hasn't been anything other than 
marijuana.  It does not test for steroids."

Diggs said he is not aware of any other schools in the  state testing 
for drugs, and added that there are no  plans for the MIAA to do so.

"It was discussed at a meeting back in January," Diggs  said. "But 
league policy is to have the schools remain  autonomous on that 
issue. We have athletic trainers at  each school who are looking for 
(signs of drug usage).  We've left it up to them."

Diggs did say that the topic - and others - will be  addressed at the 
MIAA athletic directors conference  later this month in Ocean City.

Hereford athletic director Mike Kalisz has learned  plenty about drug 
testing since his 15-year-old  daughter, Courtney, began competing in 
national  swimming meets at age 11 for the North Baltimore  Aquatic Club.

Courtney, who won the 200-meter butterfly in the  national 
championships in April and is ranked eighth in  the world in that 
event, had four random drug tests in  one five-week span.

"She knows it's coming, and she's not going to let any  banned 
substance stop her from achieving her goals,"  Mike Kalisz said. 
"They pulled her out of a meet and  tested her before the awards presentation."

In a similar fashion, testers were waiting by the pool  for Kalisz 
after she won at the world championships.

There's no letup at home. Officials have waited in the  family 
driveway until the veteran of the 2004 U.S.  Olympic Swim Trials 
returns in order to administer a  test.

Her schedule must be known at all times, because even  missed random 
tests are considered failed tests.

"That's part of our lives," said Kalisz, who has a  special hotline 
number he can call to get a detailed  list of banned substances. "If 
she is sick, we are  calling that hotline."

When Kalisz heard about New Jersey's policy, he cut out  the article 
and put it on his office door to make  students aware of the problem.

"We're all in the business to educate," he said. "And  that policy 
will educate kids that, one, it's harmful  and, two, it's cheating. I 
don't think (testing) will  be a problem for most kids, especially in 
individual  sports.

"I understand why they are (testing), and my initial  reaction is 
that it's probably a good thing."

Overlea athletic director Bruce Malinowski dislikes the  fact that 
prep athletes bear the brunt of the scrutiny.

"I realize it's best for our kids," he said. "But if  you are going 
to drug test our athletes, I want  everybody in our school to be drug 
tested. If you do  the athletes, you have to do the band members, the 
kids  in the chess club and the national honor society. If  you are 
not going to do it to everybody, then don't do  it all. Don't single 
out my kids because they are  athletes."
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