NCAA Will Recommend Sickle-Cell Testing of Athletes

As part of a settlement involving the NCAA, Rice University, and the family of Dale R. Lloyd II, a Rice football player who died after a workout in 2006, the NCAA announced on Sunday it would now recommend that athletes be tested for the sickle-cell trait.

The condition, a genetic blood disorder that affects one in 12 African-Americans, can result in “exertional sickling,” which CBSSports.com reports is the leading cause of death among NCAA football players in the last decade. During strenuous exercise, sickle-shaped red blood cells can clump together and pile up, blocking blood flow to limbs and organs. Seven out of 19 nontraumatic college-athlete deaths since 2000 are related to sickle-cell complications.

Mr. Lloyd’s family sued Rice for failing to test for the trait and faulted the NCAA for being negligent in warning about the risks associated with the blood disorder and overexertion

A National Athletic Trainers’ Association survey in 2006 found that 64 percent of Division I-A schools already screen for the trait. The NCAA now recommends that athletics departments check for the sickle-cell trait in all athletes, if it is not already known, during their required medical examinations.

Those with the condition will most likely still be able to compete but may need more time to adapt to intense workouts. —Ashley Killough