Steroid tests turn up 11 violators in Texas high schools That's out of 29,000 students in Texas high schools

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Nearly all of the students who tested positive during the yearlong program were football players or wrestlers and all were male. Those tested were randomly selected from an estimated 740,000 student athletes.

State lawmakers are expected to propose scaling down the steroid program by using statistical sampling instead of the widespread testing — or limit it to certain sports, said Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van.

“It made parents more aware of the dangers of using those steroids and also coaches now realize that if they are not doing a better job of policing their athletes, they’re going to lose them,” said Flynn, who helped author the bill mandating random steroid drug testing.

The first positive test for anabolic steroid use triggers a 30-day suspension from competition.

Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, said the governor “would be open” to a scaled down steroid testing program.

Many Texas athletic coaches have said they believe education works better than an expensive testing and continue to question the merit of testing for steroids but not for recreational drugs.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a main backer of the steroid-testing program approved by lawmakers two years ago, wants to continue the project but is receptive to changes.

“It is too early to determine what, if any, adjustments should be made to the program, but as with any important initiative like this, I am always looking for ways to make improvements,” Dewhurst said.

Some high school coaches believe the money could be better spent.

A yearlong testing program that produces 11 positive results is not shocking, said B.F. Terry High School High football coach Tim Teykl

“It is a comforting number to see. You would like that … to be a zero, but this isn’t a perfect world that we live in,” he said.

Sharpstown football coach Gary Gutierrez never cared for the steroids program in the first place, he said.

“I understand why the testing was done. You want to make sure kids are doing the right thing, he said. “I think these results show that kids are committed to doing that right thing and that success on the field is coming because of hard work more than anything else.”

Districts undisclosed

The test results, showing a positive steroid result of only .03 percent indicates, “it’s not quite the epidemic that a lot of people feared it was,” said D.W. Rutledge, executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association.

“There are a lot of concerns we have that this money could be used on, one being childhood obesity, another being recreational drugs,” Rutledge said.

The fall testing period covered 12,159 boys representing 10 sports and 6,658 girls representing 12 sports. Among them were more than 4,500 high school male football players and 1,089 female volleyball players, according to a report released Friday by the University Interscholastic League, which supervises the testing program.

It was the second round of testing. The first round began last February and covered some 10,000 students. Together, the two rounds have produced the 11 positive results. Ten other cases need more follow-up tests.

UIL officials said they could not legally identify in which school districts students tested positive for steroid use.

“Whether it was seven or 700, at least those kids can be helped now,” said Cinco Ranch volleyball coach Tammy Laurence. “We, as coaches, need to make sure our kids know the right way to become better athletes and the healthy way to do that.”

gscharrer@express-news.net

jenny.dial@chron.com