With the latest reports that Adderall is allegedly being used in professional sports to give players a competitive advantage, the Men’s MAPTA Rules Committee (“MMRC”) has announced, starting on January 1, there will be random testing of D1 players for the drug and violators will forfeit all matches that have occurred this season with that player. The rule is silent on testing players outside of D1 and most think the MMRC is “not waste their time” testing the other divisions during the regular season, although they will test during the play-offs.
Spokesperson for the MMRC has stated “This will not be a three strikes kind of deal. The first time you are caught, you are done for the season, no crying and no appeals. We are not going to turn this into a professional bicycling or baseball steroid fiasco. Our league and individual records will never have an asterisk next to it. We believe that we have the full support of the league and have hired the finest drug testers in the Philadelphia area. No one and we mean no one should feel that they are above the law. We hope that other leagues around the country take notice and possibly even the APTA take a stand against these drugs before it becomes a much larger issue.”
This is not the first time that the MMRC has taken a strong position on players taking substances in order of approving their chances of winning. Just last season, the Wallingford Court 1 tandem was tested for banned substances after their monumental and tragic defeat of the much beloved Nolan’s. Fortunately for Wallingford, the final results were never officially published and the two have been cleared of any wrong-doing in that specific match.
Captains have been cheering the MMRC’s decision for the most part. Captain Tom stated “It’s about time that we did something about this issue. The only way we are going to end these 2 ½ hour matches where no one drives the ball is to get these guys off these drugs and let them play the sport the way it was intended or at least the way the game I like to play. Points lasting numerous minutes should now just last a few seconds, which is fine in my book. The only reason that this sport has gotten so boring is these illicit drugs and their ability to allow players to concentrate on points lasting seemingly forever” Captain Dan has no issue as well with the decision “as most of my players have never had a point that lasted more than 5 or 6 hits. We pride ourselves in that for the most part, we are just a group of tennis players that needed an excuse to get out of the house on Thursday nights and the longer the points last, the less time we have hanging with the boys after the match. Right on MMRC!!”
On the other hand, Captain Rodney who heads up the Philadelphia Paddle Players Association (“PPPA”) feels that “The MMRC has overstepped their rights. This testing infringes upon the players ability to use a legal drug that may or may not be prescribed to help a player with a condition that he may or may not have on the paddle court. I for one and as a representative of the PPPA will fight against this testing and have hired one of the top notch law firms in the country to represent any player that may be penalized as a result of a positive test.
Stay tuned for more information from the MMRC as they release the details of the testing plans later this month and we interview some of the players that allegedly will be affected by this very controversial decision.
