HOCKEY LEAGUE PLANS TO DISCUSS DRUG TESTING

Local Sports - Two months after the Quebec triple-A midget hockey league
began random drug testing of its players, no other provinces have followed.

Hopes that Quebec's bold step -- triggered by a concern from parents and a
league president who believed as many as 25 per cent of the midget boys were
using drugs -- would push other provincial associations to follow suit
hasn't materialized.

"I would say that Quebec midget triple-A did show leadership in this area,"
said Paul Melia, head of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES). "I
hope it will serve as a model for perhaps other midget leagues across the
country."

Many, however, including the Ottawa District Hockey Association, which is
home to Greater Kingston major and minor midget teams, have discussions on
drug testing tabled for their general meetings this summer.

"We are monitoring the situation in Quebec," said Brent Dick, chair of the
risk and safety management and abuse and harassment committee for the ODHA.

Melia stopped short of saying it was disappointing that while the Quebec
league had acted so quickly, others were not following.

Quebec midget league president Martin Roy told CBC Radio in Montreal earlier
this year he was concerned that up to 25 per cent of the players were
consuming drugs. Other associations haven't indicated that drug consumption
was anywhere near that figure in their leagues.

"For other associations, [drug testing] is probably not that high on their
agenda," Melia said. "Usually unless [a drug problem] happens in your
association, you sometimes feel immune.

"We will continue to work with these organizations. They all show a strong
concern for the safety of their players and we support them in that goal."

Melia admitted that the cost of the testing could be a deterrent. One test,
from the time a sample is taken from a player to the conclusion of the lab
work, costs about $500.

While he termed the cost of drug testing "not prohibitively expensive,"
Melia acknowledged that a drain on resources from other areas, such as ice
rental and player insurance, might prevent associations from following in
Quebec's footsteps. The Quebec league was able to subsidize the cost of the
testing by securing corporate sponsorship.

"Yes, for volunteer-driven associations, [the drug-testing cost] is not
insignificant," Melia said. "However, the development of the plan is to
create a deterrent. Typically around 20 per cent [of a league's players] are
tested on a random notification."

A similar schedule of testing in the Ottawa District association would mean
an expense of more than $15,000.

One area where the CCES is making headway is in its talks with the Canadian
Hockey League, which includes the Ontario Hockey League, the home of the
Kingston Frontenacs.

Melia has met with representatives from the country's premier junior league
regarding the development of a comprehensive policy on anti-doping.

"Our talks are going well," he said. "The CHL demonstrated a real and
genuine concern for health and safety of their players. Every indication is
that [the CHL] would hope to have a policy in place for next season."

"There is no place in the CHL for illegal drugs or performance-enhancing
substances and the CHL is committed to putting in place a policy that makes
this abundantly clear," said Gilles Courteau, vice-president of the CHL and
commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.