Get Ncaa Sickle Cell Fact Sheet

Testing may be done when those who were born before newborn screening was mandated want to know if they have sickle cell disease or are carrying the sickle cell trait, especially if they are in a high-risk group. In African Americans, sickle cell disease occurs in one out of every 365 births.

While sickle cell trait is not a barrier to playing competitive sports, athletes with sickle cell trait have experienced significant physical distress, including collapse and death during intense exercise.

The sickle gene is a condition of inheritance rather than race or ethnicity. Sickle cell trait occurs in about 8% of the African-American population and between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 10,000 in the U.S. Caucasian population. Most U.S. states test at birth, but most athletes with sickle cell trait do NOT know they have it.

All participating student-athletes are required to provide confirmation of sickle cell trait status, either through: 1) existing documentation from birth, or; 2) recent screening. Most entering college-aged students have been tested for SCT as a standard genetic screening at birth.

If you're a college athlete who's talented enough to play a Division I sport, the NCAA requires that you get a blood test to see if you have sickle cell trait. People with sickle cell trait carry one copy of a gene that can lead to an abnormal type of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells.

All participating student-athletes are required to provide confirmation of sickle cell trait status, either through: 1) existing documentation from birth, or; 2) recent screening. Most entering college-aged students have been tested for SCT as a standard genetic screening at birth.

While sickle cell trait is not a barrier to playing competitive sports, athletes with sickle cell trait have experienced significant physical distress, including collapse and death during intense exercise.

The sickle gene is a condition of inheritance rather than race or ethnicity. Sickle cell trait occurs in about 8% of the African-American population and between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 10,000 in the U.S. Caucasian population. Most U.S. states test at birth, but most athletes with sickle cell trait do NOT know they have it.

Although youngsters with sickle cell disease may participate in sports for fun, they are unlikely to play competitive sports like basketball or football because they need to avoid sports that involve overexertion, overheating, dehydration, or chilling these conditions could set off a life-threatening crisis.

Most of their hemoglobin is just fine. But under extreme conditions, such as dehydration and harsh training, people with the trait can run into trouble when their red blood cells "sickle" and interfere with the flow of blood. A series of deaths in college athletes led the NCAA to institute the screening rule in 2010.