Pierce College currently does not have a drug policy for athletes and is not planning on creating one any time soon.
Athletic Director Bob Lofrano said coaches are in control of discipline. Before the beginning of each season, each coach talks to their athletes about rules and discipline.
“Students are supposed to know what to do and all that kind of stuff and not do. If they screw up, then you know you have to come in and do something to them,” Lofrano said.
Women’s soccer coach Adolfo Perez has been at Pierce for 16 years and believes rules are in place for a reason.
“I think that being a student athlete, you’re held to higher standards than just a normal student because you have to be responsible,” Perez said. “Athletes with discipline issues are dealt with at an isolated basis.”
According to Lofrano, there probably won’t be an anti-drug policy in the future. Implementing drug testing is very expensive and it is the reason why Pierce does not currently have a drug policy.
“I honestly don’t know of any school that has drug tested at the community college level. We follow the decorum policy and that’s important too,” Lofrano said. “That’s not so much a drug thing, that’s just behavioral, basically how you behave on the field.”
Football coach Jason Sabolic said it would be a good idea to perform a drug policy for the safety of the student athletes, because even though they’re of age, some choose to make wrong decisions.
“It would help cut out some of the disciplinary issues that we had to deal with over the course of the years,” Sabolic said.
According to Sabolic, teachers have the right to report any illegal activities or behavior.
“If an athlete were to be doing drugs there would be levy heavy punishment,” Sabolic said. “There would be team excusal and a report.
Former Pierce football player Justin Pitts thinks the school should have a drug policy because drugs are not something students should have at school.
“I mean you shouldn’t be doing it clearly,” Pitts said. “I’ve never heard of any athletes doing drugs while I was here. Sure they have, but not that I know of.”
