The National Center for Drug Free Sport has been selected to conduct the University Interscholastic League's anabolic steroid testing program for the remainder of this school year and the 2008-09 school year, the UIL announced Tuesday.

The UIL held a formal bidding process for what will be the largest steroid testing program in the country.

The National Center for Drug Free Sport is the company that conducts testing for the NCAA and minor league baseball.

Senate Bill 8, passed by the 80th Texas Legislature and signed into law last June, mandates that the UIL conduct random steroid testing of high school athletes in grades 9 through 12 at approximately 30 percent of UIL member high schools and sample a statistically significant number of students.

Testing will begin in the coming weeks, but there is no set date for the start. All testing dates will be unannounced, in keeping with the nature of the random steroid testing process.