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Posted at 9:36 a.m., Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Preps: All New Jersey students subject to steroids test

By Dan DeLuca
The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press

Bob Baly didn't get into athletics to monitor the substances that young athletes put into their bodies.

But that's exactly the position the assistant director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association found himself in as coordinator of the nation's first statewide random steroid testing program for high school students.

"I think it's a sign of the times," said Baly, who's spent 48 of his 62 years as athlete, coach and athletics administrator. "My view is we can educate as much as we want, but there has to be some kind of deterrent.

"We can run driver's ed courses for students and say, 'Don't speed,' but unless there are police on the streets with radar guns, it's not going to be as effective. Drug testing is like the radar gun; students know if (they) do use, there's a chance they could be detected."

In December 2005, the athletic association received a mandate from New Jersey's governor to carry out the program for the 2006-07 school year. After five months of planning, the organization submitted a program for approval that would test 5 percent of the athletes who participated in the state championship series.

In contrast, the Florida High School Athletic Association released details of its steroid testing program on July 31 - five weeks after Gov. Charlie Crist signed it into law, making Florida the second state to legislate testing.

"And I thought we didn't have enough time," Baly said.

Like the Florida association, the New Jersey athletic association tabbed the National Center for Drug Free Sport to administer its testing program for a cost of $175 per test. With a $100,000 budget — the same as Florida's — New Jersey tested 500 athletes during the 2006-07 school year.

However, while Florida will test competitors in just six sports — football, boys and girls weightlifting, flag football, baseball and softball — New Jersey made all its athletes eligible for testing.

"In a perfect world, I think it's best to test every student-athlete, but there's financial restraints," Baly said. "You have to get the best bang for the buck and test the sports you suspect there could really be abuse in."

Of the 500 athletes New Jersey tested, Baly estimated 75 percent were male. Also, 300 came from sports the athletic association categorized as at-risk for steroid usage — football, wrestling, track and field and baseball.

"We didn't want to test the same number of bowlers as football players even though we don't want a bowler with 'roid rage," Baly said.

Of the 150 athletes New Jersey tested last fall, none tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The results of the winter and spring tests will be released in September.

New Jersey's program has its critics, who have focused on the fact testing takes place at a designated time — after postseason tournaments. Last year, Linn Goldberg, a steroids expert and professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, called it "the most ridiculous program on the planet" during an interview with the (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal.

Florida's, meanwhile, will take place on campus and can occur any time during a sport's season.

Baly said his organization is considering whether to carry out on campus testing. But the earliest that will happen is the 2008-09 school year.

"We want to have a little more background before we make any changes," he said.

Frank Uryasz, the president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport — the organization administering the steroid tests for both Florida and New Jersey - said both plans can be effective.

"We recognize that a better program is a year-round program that is short notice or no notice," he said. "But there's certainly nothing wrong with starting with a championship or postseason event."

Uryasz, however, said in order to prove testing served as a deterrent, an organization will "inevitably" go to year-round testing.