Two Ways to Go: Pioneer Programs at Antelope Valley and Taft Colleges

Of the 106 California community colleges with athletic programs, only two--Antelope Valley and Taft--have drug-testing programs approved and funded for the 1986-87 school year.

Coaches, athletic directors and administrators from Eureka to Chula Vista may base their decision on whether to use drug testing at their schools on what happens at Antelope Valley and Taft.

“I didn’t realize we were pioneers at first, but I guess we are,” said Brent Carder, Antelope Valley football coach and athletic director. Carder’s testing program, the first implemented at a community college in the state, was passed by the Antelope Valley College Board of Trustees July 7.

The West Kern Community College Board on Wednesday night approved a drug-testing program for Taft, the 1982 and 1984 national community college football champion.

Both programs are mandatory and were passed with little debate by their school boards. But there are some differences.

As part of the preseason physical examination at Antelope Valley, athletes in all sports must submit to a urinalysis to test for the presence of cocaine, marijuana, PCP, amphetamines, alcohol, benzodiazepines, alcohol and barbiturates.

If the test, which will be conducted at the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, is positive, it will be rechecked for accuracy at another laboratory. If the second check is positive, the coach will be notified and will schedule a meeting with the athlete.

The player must make a counseling appointment at the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center chemical dependency unit and submit a negative test to remain on the roster.

If the second test is positive, the player is suspended indefinitely. However, the player will have the right to appeal the results and to have the same specimen checked a third time at a different laboratory.

In addition, according to Carder, players will be selected for testing randomly during the season.

Carder estimated the total cost for testing the approximately 200 athletes who will compete for Antelope Valley this year at $8,000, which will be paid by the school district.

Carder said community colleges cannot afford not to test.

“This is a moral issue, and as educators we can’t turn our back on it,” Carder said. “We don’t feel the drug problem here is any worse than other schools, but we feel we have to do something about it.

“I really do think our program will help. You’re never happy to have to involve yourself in drug testing, but I think it’s going to have some positive effects.”

At Taft, the program is more stringent. Before the start of the season, athletes will submit to a urinalysis that will be tested by Roche Laboratories.

According to Al Baldock, Taft’s football coach and athletic director, players who test positive will be suspended for a duration determined by a special committee made up of Baldock, a trainer and other coaches.

“The suspension could be for the entire season, or a few games, depending on extent of drug use we find after talking with him,” Baldock said.

Taft players, some of whom are legally recruited from out of state because the city 37 miles southwest of Bakersfield is too small to provide the school with enough athletes, also will be subject to periodic random tests during the season.

“We’ll test players who we suspect might be stupid enough to be using drugs, and some we don’t suspect,” Baldock said. “The message is that you can be a football hero, or you can use drugs, but you can’t do both.”

Baldock said Roche will charge the West Kern Community College District $15 for each urinalysis.

Walt Rilliet, the athletic commissioner of the California Assn. of Community Colleges, supports the efforts of Antelope Valley and Taft.

“I think it (drug testing) is a positive thing,” he said. “We’re going after what we suspected was a problem before (Len) Bias and (Don) Rogers proved it was. We’re putting the word out that drug use is wrong.”

However, Rilliet had one criticism of the Antelope Valley and Taft programs. He said he was disappointed that the programs do not include checks for the use of anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids, which can have serious side effects, are used by athletes to gain bulk and increase strength.

“Steroids are my biggest worry,” Rilliet said. “But one test for that could run $150, and that’s too expensive.”