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HS Sports: AD's talk drug testing, turf fields
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Article RatingFrom gladiators to Olympians to Title IX to today’s steroid era, sports have certainly evolved over the years.
High School athletics are no different. But what will life in high school sports be like in 2020, when today’s kindergartners are seniors?
Several local athletic directors were asked that question and each had their own answers, with the hottest topics of conversation being turf fields and drug testing.
Talkin’ turf
Mechanicsburg AD Andrea Teeter says that someday, every high school will have a turf field.
“Five years ago, it was rare for a high school to have a turf field,” Teeter said. “Now, almost every school has one or is in the process of getting one.”
Like many other schools, Mechanicsburg is working on the turf transformation for its football stadium.
“We don’t have a timetable for it, but we’re hopeful to get one soon,” Teeter said. “A good turf field costs about a million dollars, that’s a big chunk of change.”
Is it worth the cost? Most AD’s are saying yes.
“There are so many advantages to having a turf field,” Teeter said. “If you have a grass field and it rains on Friday night, the field is done for the rest of the year.”
“But if you have a turf field, you don’t have to worry about the wear and tear. The football team would be able to share the field with the field hockey, lacrosse and soccer teams. The band would be able to play there and the Midget football team could take the field on Sundays.”
Cumberland Valley AD Dave Eavenson agrees.
“A turf field would be a big plus to spring sports, the snow is easily plowed and the melting takes place very quickly,” Eavenson said. “A turf field would be available on next-day basis, even after a big storm. Spring sports are not designed for the gym, but for the outdoors instead, the sooner you get the kids outside the better it is for everyone involved.”
Cumberland Valley is one of just three football schools (with Bishop McDevitt and Carlisle being the others) in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division without a turf field — Eavenson is hoping that will change soon. The Mechanicsburg Wildcats are in a different division.
“Our campus is landlocked, the demand for fields is rising, and we have nowhere to go right now,” Eavenson said. “But we have a project in the works to put a turf field here. It’s still in the study-and-drawing stage, but I think in the next year or two, we will have a turf field at our school.”
Some schools, like Shippensburg, don’t have to go too much farther than right down the road to access a turf field. Shippensburg high school does not have any turf fields on its property, but Shippensburg University’s Robb Sports Complex does.
“We play some of our field hockey and soccer games at the university,” Shippensburg AD Shawn Chiappelli said. “As far as us getting a turf field, I don’t see that in the near future.”
Is there a downfall to turf fields?
“Depending on who you talk to, turf fields are great a lot of things,” Chiappelli said. “But I’ve heard other people contradict that when talking about injuries and maintenance.”
Eavenson said that getting a turf field is something that requires a lot of careful planning.
“Obviously, if you’re going to get a turf field, you better get a quality one,” Eavenson said. “There are some very good products on the market today, much better than the concrete-like AstroTurf of 15 years ago. There’s turf today that feels almost like grass.”
Drug testing rare...for now
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco — those are just a few of the hundreds of names that have been mentioned in Major League Baseball’s steroid scandal. Marion Jones and Justin Gatlin are two track and field athletes tarnished by steroids.
Will it ever get to the point where we’ll be reading headlines about our high school heroes in these sticky, not to mention bulked-up, situations?
“I think as long as pro sports have problems with steriods and drugs, drug testing will always be a prelevant issue in high school and college,” Eavenson said. “Until the pros clean their houses up, you’re going to have that trickle-down effect.”
Cumberland Valley is one of the area’s few schools that conducts drug-testing with its athletes. It implemented its drug-testing policy in 2005.
“It’s gone very well so far,” Eavenson said. “It’s done on a weekly basis. Not only are athletes subject to drug testing, but anyone involved in extracurricular activities and anyone that drives a car to school.”
The results are confidential, but from what Eavenson observes, the tests have helped keep Cumberland Valley clean.
“From what I’ve gathered, the positive tests are at a minimum here,” Eavenson said. “The school has invested a lot of money in this, and the fact that we don’t get many positive tests, I think that’s money well spent.”
For other local schools, the issue of drug testing is an expensive one, an issue that most schools feel is not feasible at this point in time.
“In most cases, you will only be testing for certain things, a full-court test would cost a lot of money,” Carlisle AD George Null said. “So if you test for PCP, marijuana and alcohol, you’ll have kids using cocaine to get around the system. There is no fool-proof drug testing program because it is cost-prohibitive.”
Null said that Carlisle keeps close watch on its kids to and from school.
“We do things like give Breathalizers at school functions,” Null said. “Drug testing has not been brought to the forefront here as a problem we need to deal with because it hasn’t been.”
Null added that the issue of drug testing should be regarded and treated on a school-to-school basis.
“I think (drug testing) has to be germaine to the situations you are dealing with,” Null said. “Some areas and towns are prone to those types of activities. I think you’ve just got to get to know your kids and they’ve got to know what the rules are.”
Teeter said that her school does not have a drug testing program because its bigger concern is alcohol.
“We talk about drug testing every year,” Teeter said. “A big problem that we have at our school is alcohol and drug testing doesn’t really test for that.”
Shippensburg high school doesn’t have a drug testing program.
“It hasn’t been under any discussion since I’ve been here,” Chiappelli said. “But we have our own drug policy that removes drug-using athletes from their sports. Thankfully, those incidents have been few and far between.”
Almost all of the ADs agreed that drug-testing will be a big part of the future.
Teeter said, “I believe drug testing is something that all schools will eventually be doing.”
Chiappelli added, “I think the issue of drug testing will be more significant as we get to 2020, even possibly before that.”
