NCAA Adopts Requirement for Sickle-Cell Testing of Athletes

The NCAA’s Division I Legislative Council adopted a measure today that will require college athletes to be tested for sickle-cell trait, prove that they have already been tested, or sign a release indicating that they have declined to be tested. Athletes with sickle-cell trait, which is more common among African-Americans, may be more likely to experience exercise-induced symptoms that, in rare cases, can be fatal. Most Division I-A universities already screen for the condition with a blood test.