Drug Testing Labs For NCAA, WWE Among Bidders For Texas Program

Wednesday, August 15th 2007, 9:57 pm

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ Companies that handle drug testing for the NCAA, World Wrestling Entertainment and some Texas school districts are among those vying to run the state's new random steroids testing program for high school athletes.

A total of 14 companies have submitted bids to operate the two-year, $6 million legislative mandate, in which the testing of some 23,000 students is expected to begin this fall.

``It's the mother of all steroids contracts, for sure,'' said Harvey Graves, president and CEO of Houston-based Pinnacle Medical Management Corp., which is among the bidders.

The list of bidders, obtained by The Associated Press through an open-records request to the University of Texas, includes 11 companies based in Texas.

Most notable on the list might be the National Center for Drug Free Sport, based in Kansas City, Mo. The company conducts drug testing for the NCAA and the only other two states with mandatory random steroid tests for high school athletes, New Jersey and Florida.

Pinnacle already does testing for recreational drugs and steroids on upward of 10,000 Texas students a month in more than 50 school districts, Graves said. Another bidder, Nashville, Tenn.-based Aegis Sciences Corp., handles drug testing for the WWE.

The University Interscholastic League, the state's governing body of public high school sports, said Wednesday there is no set deadline to select a contractor.

Public high schools began football practice last week and play their first games Aug. 30. UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt has already said the testing likely won't start until after the season begins.

``We are trying to move as quickly as we can but we are still in the evaluation process,'' UIL athletic coordinator Mark Cousins said Wednesday.

The Texas program would be the largest in the country, targeting a pool of more than 700,000 public school athletes in all sports.

Companies that submitted bids said the UIL gave them no timeline on when a decision will be made. But several said they could begin testing students almost immediately if awarded the contract.

``We could start testing the week after the decision is made,'' said Frank Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport.

Even though testing hasn't started, athletes must submit a signed form acknowledging they could be tested for steroids before they will be allowed to play in a game. A positive test mandates a 30-day suspension from play on the first offense.

Although most of the majority of bidding companies are based in Texas, the state has no lab equipped to test for anabolic steroids. That means whichever company is awarded the contract, all samples will be shipped to one of four laboratories elsewhere in the country.

Some contractors suggested that given the volume of samples coming from Texas, the price for testing may be cheaper than what lawmakers originally planned. Anabolic steroid tests typically run between $130 and $200.

``I think that it's going to come in less than $100,'' said Gary Baird, chief executive of Compliance Consortium Corp. in Belton.

David Black, president of Aegis, said the state's testing program is among the most lucrative contracts in the country.

People should not necessarily expect a great number of positive test results as a way of validating the cost.

``I think everybody needs to be prepared,'' Black said. ``We're not going to see a 10 percent positivity rate.''

Black said that while an ideal program would test every athlete four times a year, Texas' program will remain a deterrent to students.