Clearing the Bases Blog Index
July 24, 2008
Not-so-great results

Texas implemented random steroid testing at the start of the 2007-2008 school year, starting the nation's largest steroid testing program (in one of the nation's largest states, go figure).

But according to an Associated Press report from earlier this week, only two Texas high school athletes tested positive, from a pool of more than 10,000 students who were tested.

Four tests came back unresolved and three students refused to be tested, according to figures released by the University Interscholastic League. One athlete left the testing area without cause or approval, and 18 missed the mandatory testing without an excused absence.

How many high school sports participants there are in Texas (population 23,904,380, according to a 2007 U.S. Census estimate)? According to the National Federation of State High School Sports Associations, Texas led the nation in high school sports participation during the 2006-2007 school year, with 296,027 girls and 467,940 boys.

Posted at 01:07 PM

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Comments

Are you kidding me. This is a great result. Everybody wants to look at high school sports and say that there is a problem. Football in Texas is so big (as well as the players ) that they must all be on steroids, right? It almost seems like Lenzi wants kids to get caught using steroids based on tis blog. Instead of being upset with the low positve numbers, we should be celebrating the fact that a group of young people are making intelligent choices.

Posted by jon
July 25, 2008 06:51 AM

Jon,

Thanks for reading the blog.

In response to your column, consider the intent of the steroid-testing program in Texas, as a deterrent at a time when there's such a focus on performance-enhancing drugs. Steroid testing in high school sports is something that's been discussed for years and years, but only in the past few years has it been implemented at the high school level.

But also, look at the number of high school athletes that were selected to be randomly tested in one of the biggest states in America - only 10,000, and a handful of that group wasn't tested. Then put that in perspective with how many high school athletes there are in Texas - more than 700,000. Those 10,000 who were selected to be tested are a miniscule sample.

That then begs the question - who wasn't caught?

(Or maybe I should change the title of this blog ... *shrug*)

Posted by Rachel
July 25, 2008 10:40 AM

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Rachel is in her fourth year as a sports reporter at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. A Maryland native and a former college soccer and softball player, she covered high school and college sports at newspapers in Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado before joining the Press Herald/Sunday Telegram staff in June of 2004.

She grew up watching the NHL, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Georgetown basketball and the Baltimore Orioles and is a confessed sports nut. Her interests include reading and movies, going to the gym, Motown and '70s R&B music and following the New York City tabloids.

Married in July, she and her husband Tommy are avid Steelers and Kansas Jayhawks fans. Their toughest decision as newlyweds has been "NESN or ESPN?"



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