volunteered to be drugs tested to show their support for the national drug-free sport policy.

BLTA president David Lambert said he and association members backed the Bermuda Council for Drug-free Sport's random testing of sportspeople.

And he denied that the BLTA's action was a reaction to the Bermuda Amateur Softball Association's refusal to comply with the drugs policy. BASA refused to submit a list of players to be tested to the BCDFS and consequently the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation has denied them the use of Bernard Park as a venue.

"The BLTA executive have unanimously put themselves forward for drugs testing,'' said Lambert.

"This is something we were talking about long before the softball association hit the news. They have their own situation and I'm sure they are going to sort it out.

"It's something we've been thinking about ever since drugs testing was implemented for our players who travel overseas -- and none of our players has ever failed.

"We feel that we should be drugs tested to experience what the procedure is.

Then if players ask us what happens, we will have a first-hand idea.

"There is a lot of uncertainty about drugs testing and we believe it's important that everybody knows exactly what it's all about.'' Lambert said the national drugs testing policy was necessary to ensure that teams representing the Island in international competitons, like the Davis Cup and Federation Cup in the case of tennis, were `clean'.

"It is important that we drugs-test players in local tournaments, because the domestic scene is where your core of representatives for international teams come from.

"The BLTA has always been a supporter of drug-free sport and we want everyone on the BLTA payroll or those affiliated to the BLTA to be available for testing.''