The Sate Teams are gonna love this one..

Andrew S.

Andrew S.

Gold Coast
The State Offices have just been handed down the new drug policy for State Teams for this years Nationals.

This clause is interesting:

8.3.4 Substances Prohibited in particular Sports – ALCOHOL (ethanol) is prohibited In-Competition only, for Tenpin Bowling. Detection will be conducted by analysis of breath and/or blood. The doping violation threshold (haematological values) is 0.10 g/L.
 
That translates to 0.01%, ie any detectable level. Mouthwash, cough mxture, some breath mints, cough drops, etc could all put someone over the limit.
IIRC, breath tests don't distinguish between different forms of alcohol, so anyone using isocol to clean equipment will probably record a positive reading. As may anyone standing nearby that gets a lungful of fumes.
It is an unbelievably stupid move from the WTBA.

Imagine testing the field at just about any matchplay final of any Australian tournament. They'll be calling in the 64th reserve.
 
My information which admittedly is second hand is that they tried to bring this in at the last Womens Tournament in Vegas. The bowlers refused to sign, so it was withdrawn.

Maybe someone has first hand information about this?
 
Selling sanctioning next year is going to be fun. "Oh, by the way, you are not allowed to drink AT ALL when you are bowling in league, or even have one before you start" should go down a treat.
 
What next,

some bowlers cant get onto the lane before they've got 2 or 3 or 8 or 9 under there belt down here.
 
what an unbelievable load of codswallop what knucklehead at tba decided on this , have they gone bonkers, i suppose this was thought up by some nth qld conspiracy , but all jokes aside , are we the only sport in the universe that will now have this, WORDS FAIL ME,oh well ill just pass this on to some committee eh?
 
The National Body may need to rethink this.

It is all very easy to say that this is a WTBA requirement but I doubt that this will encourage more bowlers to nominate for State Teams.

Just looking at the TBA website will show the majority of States are already only fielding 6 women instead of the full coimpliment of 7 in their Rachuig squads.
 
This is only for the nationals and I can't see how this is a bad thing.

If bowling wishes to be taken seriously as a sport, maybe the best bowlers in the country shouldn't be showing up for competition under the influence of any substance.
 
Will be great if a team are all suffering from a cold or flu and are taking cough medicine. May as well wipe out the whole team.

Seriously, though I dont drink before competing, I do use alcohol wipes for my ball and know of many teammates who enjoy a drink or 2 before or while on a break between squads. As long at they are not drunk, abusive or aggressive whats wrong with this socialising aspect of our game. It is a major part of the enjoyment of Nationals. Having a drink with interstate mates you only see once a year over a lunch together.

Such a low level of alcohol.... it is in so many things as mentioned before. Also some deodorants. Watch out if you a "shower in a can" to freshen up between squads. Dont breath while you spray. Dont drink for 10 hours before you bowl so your drinks at dinner the night before have a chance to get back to zero before you start next morning.

Maybe we will get a new look for the Nationals, grumpy people, smelly bodies, bad breath, coughing fits by players all because we cant use any products containing any alcohol at all.

I agree bowlers should not be under the influence but the level is way too low. If they want such a rule then the limit should be .05%
 
Correct me if i'm wrong, but the body will clear abut one standard drink per hour (women its slightly less) through the liver/lungs etc. So assuming you had 6 beers at 9pm, then at about 3am your body will be clear of alcohol. Just count your drinks and do the maths, and you should be right.

Also, mouthwashes won't a difference for breath tests unless you are actually drinking the stuff;)
 
Shayne Melton said:
This is only for the nationals and I can't see how this is a bad thing.

If bowling wishes to be taken seriously as a sport, maybe the best bowlers in the country shouldn't be showing up for competition under the influence of any substance.
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It is not only for the Nationals. Technically, bowling in any sanctioned league or tournament play with a non-zero blood alcohol level is now a doping violation. If ASDA turn up to do a test at the bowl, and the testee is bowling, a couple of drinks the night before can now earn him a doping ban.

Alcohol is a legal substance. It is not performance enhancing. As for taking the sport seriously, if every NRL player was required to prove a zero BAC before a game we'd have a round of byes. Zero is not a reasonable level for a legal substance that has the clearance time of alcohol.

Will there be random tests for all Nationals competitors?
 
RobbieB said:
It is not only for the Nationals. Technically, bowling in any sanctioned league or tournament play with a non-zero blood alcohol level is now a doping violation. If ASDA turn up to do a test at the bowl, and the testee is bowling, a couple of drinks the night before can now earn him a doping ban.

Alcohol is a legal substance. It is not performance enhancing. As for taking the sport seriously, if every NRL player was required to prove a zero BAC before a game we'd have a round of byes. Zero is not a reasonable level for a legal substance that has the clearance time of alcohol.

Will there be random tests for all Nationals competitors?
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I received an email stating this was for only the nationals.

And in my previous sporting endeavours, I was required to provide a 0.000000 blood alcohol reading as well as urine sample before I was aloud to compete...... but motor racing is a bit stricker then bowling
 
dishman said:
Correct me if i'm wrong, but the body will clear abut one standard drink per hour (women its slightly less) through the liver/lungs etc. So assuming you had 6 beers at 9pm, then at about 3am your body will be clear of alcohol. Just count your drinks and do the maths, and you should be right.

Also, mouthwashes won't a difference for breath tests unless you are actually drinking the stuff;)
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Alcohol is absorbed through the skin and other membranes, while mouthwash can't put you over the limit of 0.05, it is at least possible that it could give you a positive reading. Also, as the level of alcohol in the blood reduces, the rate of clearance drops exponentially.
Again, we are not talking about getting below 0.05, we are talking zero reading. I'll see if I can Google up some info on total clearance times.
 
what car did you drive in motor racing ? did it have budwieser written on the side, just curious.hopefully all the spectators didnt drive home with a reading of 0.01 eh they might have caused carnage
 
otty said:
what car did you drive in motor racing ? did it have budwieser written on the side, just curious.hopefully all the spectators didnt drive home with a reading of 0.01 eh they might have caused carnage
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Don't care what the spectators drove home like, they won't the ones in competition.

Simple point to my post was that I wasn't alloud to have a blood alchol level or any sort drug in my system, which did include the IOC drug list.

And yes when I got a cold I didn't take any sort of medication that wasn't on the approved list. And I did this because I loved to drive race cars and it is what I had to do continue doing this.

I didn't get sponsored by Budwiesser while I was racing, so unfortunitly I didn't display there logo on my car...... I was sponsored by a local orange juice company, so at least I was doing my part to try and keep the spectators sober before driving home.
 
Andrew,
Fielding a 6 person team is a matter of choice for some states. People are saying that bowlers do not want to bowl Nationals or play under these rules, but the states need to look at the requirements and costs put on players to compete. If you want to represent this country in our sport then to meet ASC Guidelines, WTBA Guidelines, ASADA and WADA Codes the you must play in competitions that follow these rules and TBA, as the recognised governing body must follow this pathway. How can our sport be taken seriously as a sport without this structure, how will we get back into Commonwealth Games etc? Testing will only be in competition and surely bowlers who want to be looked upon as "athletes" like any other can follow these rules in competition, they cannot have it all ways.
 
My mother just read this thread and made a very intresting comment that I didn't know about.

She plays softball at a national and international level in seniors and they are regularly test for alchol blood level at any competion at a national level or higher.

Softball has a bigger drinking and social drug issue then bowling will ever have.
 
This isnt a requirement that TBA has set, its apart of the World Anit Doping Agency policy. The link to the document is:

http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/2009_Prohibited_List_ENG_Final_20_Sept_08.pdf

FIQ is actually the one who has set this requirement, and was created to "Establish rules for the uniform practice of bowling throughout the world", and bowling isnt the only sport who has limits on alcohol during competition.


Just another example of poorly informed bowlers who love to hate on TBA.
 
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