By Staff
Athletic Management, 18.2, February/March 2006, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1802/wusteroids.htm
They aren’t the first state to consider it, but they are the first state to take the plunge. In 2006-07, New Jersey will begin random steroid testing for high school athletes in all championship sports, following an executive mandate by Acting Governor Richard Codey.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) will carry out the testing, randomly selecting five percent of student-athletes whose teams qualify for postseason play. The governor’s office gave the NJSIAA a $50,000 grant to pay for the first year of testing, although there is no indication yet of how subsequent years of testing will be paid for.
A basketball fanatic and AAU coach, Codey created a task force in July 2005 to study the issue of steroid use in young athletes, which ultimately recommended the testing, along with ramping up educational prevention efforts. "We looked at the statistics first," says Bob Baly, Assistant Director of the NJSIAA and a member of the task force. "About three percent of high school seniors nationwide admit to having used steroids, and there’s evidence that the real number is closer to five or six percent."
In addition, interviews with student-athletes convinced the group that steroids are easy to come by. "They told us all you have to do is key in the right words on the Internet, or know the right people around school," Baly says.
A private agency will perform the testing, and athletic directors will not have any added responsibilities. "Our athletic directors will continue to work with families, coaches, and student-athletes to educate them about the dangers of steroids," Baly says.