DRUG TESTING FOR QUEBEC AAA MIDGET LEAGUE

Quebec's AAA midget hockey league says it will be the first regional league
in Canada to test its players for performance-enhancing drugs. But chances
are it won't be the last.

The head of Canada's anti-doping watchdog said Wednesday that by 2008, he
hopes to see midget AAA leagues comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency
rules.

That means anyone who tests positive would be banned for two years.

''Now that's very significant, I know. In the sport of hockey at that age it
may even be tantamount to a lifetime ban,'' said Paul Melia, head of the
Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

''You don't step out of hockey for two years at that stage and re-enter it
and continue on to the major leagues.''

Midget hockey players are usually between 15 and 17.

Quebec league president Martin Roy said there were indications that many
players were using drugs.

''I was concerned that our players, about 25 per cent, were consuming some
drugs,'' he told CBC Radio in Montreal.

This March the CCES will begin by testing 12 randomly chosen Quebec triple-A
players for drugs such as steroids before the playoffs begin.

Players testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug will get a
six-game suspension for a first offence and a one-year ban if they are
caught a second time. Melia says the Quebec league believes that those
sanctions are appropriate for the first year of the program.

''They (want) to familiarize the players with the various rules and the
substances that are banned and the whole sample collection procedure,''
Melia said. ''Over the course of the four years . . . we would hope to be
compliant with the World Anti-Doping code and at that point we would
harmonize the (two-year) sanction.''

The penalties would be just as harsh for players who refuse to take the drug
test.

''A refusal is a doping violation, so it would be the same as detecting a
banned substance,'' Melia said.

''I think the Quebec midget triple-A league has taken a very important
leadership step here in embracing this program and seeing the importance of
establishing a healthy environment for these kids.

"I hope it will serve as a model for perhaps other midget leagues across the
country.''

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League president Gilles Courteau has said he
plans to re-introduce doping tests this year, and that the two other major
junior leagues in Canada (OHL, WHL) plan to do the same.