Received: 8/12/2009 5:59:50 AM From: "Ray Alviano" <ray.alvi...@sympatico.ca>
To: "Al's Fastball News" <fastb...@pmihrm.com> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August11, 2009 By Christine Rivet, Record staff The drug police are coming to this week’sCanadian senior women’s softball championship in Kitchener. And while the sport boasts a squeaky-clean trackrecord when it comes to performance- enhancing substances, the game of softballcan ill-afford a failed drug test. Dropped from the Olympic docket following Beijing, as wasmen’s baseball, women’s softball has organized a campaign to bereinstated in time for the 2016 Games. “That’s one of the reasons why baseballand softball separated in their Olympic bid — because we had such apositive record in drug testing,” said Mike Branchauda manager for Softball Canada. “We are happy to oblige (the drugtesters).” The recent notification by the Canadian Centre forEthics in Sport that random drug testing will be conducted in Kitchener sent tournament officialsscrambling though. The tournament host committee had to set up animpromptu doping control station and needed to find security personnel andchaperones for the tested athletes. Four athletes will be tested following Sunday’sfinal for substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned listincluding anabolic steroids and narcotics. The WADA list is 10 pages long, which could createsome confusion for athletes unaccustomed to the rigoursof testing. A tournament organizer, Pete McIlwraith, acknowledgedthis is a pivotal year for the sport and a flunked drug test would only provideanother unwelcome hurdle. “I think Softball Canada is a little uptight aboutthis. It could be embarrassing for them.” Should an athlete test positive for a banned substancein Kitchenerthe CCES would recommend a suspension, though that player’s team wouldnot likely be sanctioned. The CCES regularly conducts random testing onnational-calibre athletes and at events throughoutthe country, so athletes here shouldn’t have been caught by surprise,said Branchaud. There’s no coincidence to the timing of thetests and the sport’s Olympic future, said the CCES’sdirector of communications. “It was just their turn,” said Rosemary Pitfield. The nine-team tournament runs Wednesday through Sundayat Peter Hallman Ball Yard. cri...@therecord.com Al's Fastball News *Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com fastb...@pmihrm.com NEWS-1: http://www.AlsFastball.com/ NEWS-2: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball ISC World Tournament, August 14-21, http://www.iscfastpitch.com/ VIA http://www.webbox.com
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