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 On June 26, 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton that middle-school and high-school athletes can be required to submit to suspicion less drug tests as a condition of athletic participation (New York Times 1995). Illinois now takes action.
For all of you high school sports fans who might have forgotten, this will be the first year student-athletes in Illinois can be randomly drug tested for performance enhancing drugs.
With all of the happenings in Major League Baseball over the past couple of years, Illinois is taking the steps to ensure all of the playing fields are level in our great state.
Now some of you might be thinking that high school athletes probably do not use these kinds of drugs anyway. You might be thinking that the money the state is going to spend on testing could be better spent somewhere else. Well let me tell you this, you would be wrong.
I graduated from Bolingbrook High School back in 1993. I played on the football team all 4 years. Let me say this. I never heard the talk of performance enhancing drugs from any of my team mates. I don't think it ever even came up. But good people, this is a different time that we live in.
Talk to a teenager nowadays. Ask them how easy it would be to get any type of random drug if they wanted. I'm not just talking your run of the mill Marijuana or even a little Crack Cocaine. I'm talking the harder stuff as well. Heroin, Meth, and yes Human Growth Hormones and steroids.
Take a walk around the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora or the Promenade at Bolingbrook. Have you seen how some of these young people dress? The short shorts, the skirts that are barely there. 11-12 year olds chit chatting away on their cell phones and feverishly texting their buddies while sipping on a Vendi Mocha Latte.
The point I am trying to make here is that times have changed. Young people are way more in tuned with the adult world than those of us in the 30 and up range ever were. Tweens and Teens alike know about advantages. They know that if you dress a little more provocatively, the boys come a runnin'. They know if you have 22's on your ride with 15's in the trunk the girls might stare a little harder. They also know that a little HGH or steroids can give them a competitive advantage on the playing field.
I had a chance to talk with Bolingbrook High School football player Christopher James. Chris is entering his Sophomore year at BHS. His first year he played in 1 game on the freshman level before being moved up to the Sophomore squad where he started the remainder of the season. He also was on the wrestling team where he finished the regular season with a record of 27-1. Now I have known Chris since literally before he was born. He's a big boy. At the ripe old age of 15 he goes about 6'0" 280. He wears a size 13 shoe and has hands like a catcher's mit.
Q- Chris, what do you think about the IHSA testing student athletes for performance enhancing drugs?
A- "I really don't mind. It's to see who can play and who can't really. If your going to use steroids and cheat, there's no point in being on the field."
Q- Do you think that high school athletes do use?
A- "No.... Well.... Some.... But not alot."
Q- Would you be surprised if someone you knew tested positive?
A- "Yeah I would."
Q- What would an appropriate punishment be for someone testing positive?
A- "1 year suspension." for the first time."
Q- What about if they get caught a second time?
A- "Their high school [sports] career should be over after that."
I applaud the step by the IHSA. One of the reasons people love high school sports is because its perceived as raw and untouched. These are just kids out here. Kids playing for fun. Kids playing for a chance to go to college.
Lest we forget, college isn't exactly cheap. Unless you are a Division 1 prospect, the chances are you are going to have to pay your way into school. That means student loans, home refinancing, and working full time while attending classes. For the student athlete entering his or her Senior season, there are some tough choices out there.
He or she can play by the rules. Hit the weight room like a beast. Run an extra mile or 2 a day. Study game film. Practice harder than ever. All of this extra work still might not get you a winning season or a free ride to Notre Dame. Or....
You can do all of that and take performance enhancing drugs. Until now, the chances of getting caught were slim to none. You could pump yourself up until you looked like Arnold and there was no consequence. Anyone who has played high school sports in the last 20 years knows someone that they suspected of juicing. This is the guy that was just a little bit too swoled up. The guy that could lose his temper and want to throw down at the drop of a hat. The guy who lifted more than everyone by far and had a little bit of an acne problem. Does this alone mean he was hitting the juice? Of course not. But it does make you think.
Let's just hope the high school athletes in Illinois and across the country will be smart and not become an example. The stigma of a positive test for steroids in high school will follow them forever.
Questions or Comments?
Sean Cochran
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