Is congress about to Kill High School Athletics?

WrongWay · 03-18-2005, 03:46 AM

I have been watching the current hearing on Steroids in baseball and it apears that the Senators are all getting behind the idea of mandating Steroid/Drug testing on all levels of sports. If this is like many of the other Congressional mandates, it will be all about the enforcement and penalties phases, but nothing will be mentioned about the funding.

A couple of years ago I read an article about why Androstenedione was legal in the NFL and forbidden in the Colegel/Olympic level. It had nothing to do with performance enhancement, but the Test cost. The NFL Lab cost was $1,500-$2,500, while the COL/OLY lab cost was $300-$500 per test.

Back on the High School front, I would guess with all the government red tape, and the expense of the monitoring system, you would be looking at $1,000 per athlete per sport. Add it up and you are talking about millions upon millions of dollars to enforce a 100% testing policy? So, where is the money going to come from?

How many local High Schools can afford an extra $100,000 just to have a fridaynight game? How many Parents are going to be able to reach in their pocket and pull out a $1,000 dollars for every sport and every year their child want's to participate in High School Sports?

Most High School Athletic programs in this country already run in the red. You add another $1,000 per student, per sport to the cost and you might as well turn out the lights right now.

stevew · 03-18-2005, 03:53 AM

I was thinking something similar earlier. Even if you do "random tests" and only test a fraction of athletes in a county, the cost is still preposterous. People need to police their own teammates, coaches their players, parents their children.

WrongWay · 03-19-2005, 06:47 PM

I can see Congress passing a law that would mandate Drug testeing on all levels. The states would then pass their laws that would outline the exact details of the testing procedure. Finally, the local School Districts and Parents would be looking at either cutting High School athletics or cutting a cool $1 million from the school budgets to pay for these new tests.

BTW---As a Star Trek fan I always wondered how or who could convince America to finally give up on sports. If children are not allow to play any form of organized sports, I believe this "New Policy" could do it.