A delicate line

As the NCAA reviews its guidelines on pregnant athletes, Syracuse clarifies its policy by putting it in writing

By: Zach Schonbrun

Posted: 10/2/07

It's been more than five months since Fantasia Goodwin of the Syracuse University women's basketball team gave birth to her baby girl, Jordin, after playing the entire season while pregnant. Though the Syracuse athletics department has since put a policy into writing, little has changed in the way it deals with pregnant athletes.

With pregnancy becoming a national issue in collegiate athletics, SU found itself in the mix last April when The Daily Orange first reported that Goodwin, then a junior, delivered Jordin just two months after playing her final game of the season for the Orange women's basketball team.

At the time, Syracuse athletics had nothing in writing pertaining to pregnant athletes regarding treatment, care or scholarship. SU maintains a blanket policy for all athletes stating that no medical condition shall result in an athlete losing his or her scholarship.

During the summer, the administration added text into its 2007-08 Student-Athlete Policy Manual regarding athletes and pregnancy. The additional passages ensure athletes will keep their scholarship for that current year, but subsequent years will be decided at the discretion of the sport's head coach. The policy also outlines when a student may return to action and when she must inform her coach about her situation.

The NCAA is currently in the midst of reviewing its policy on pregnant athletes following reports that some athletes had been forced to choose between losing their scholarships and having an abortion. On Sept. 11, the NCAA met with its subcommittee on financial aid, which in July recommended legislation prohibiting any reducing or canceling aid to athletes for any injury, illness or medical condition. Currently, NCAA Division I Bylaw 15.3.4.3 prohibits reduction or cancellation of financial aid based on athletic ability and on-the-field injury.

The NCAA also has a stipulation for a one-year extension to its five years of eligibility for reasons of pregnancy.

Syracuse maintains it has never taken a scholarship away from an athlete for pregnancy reasons and cases where administrations at other schools have are isolated and exceptional. But an informal survey of female Syracuse athletes by The Daily Orange showed that most do not know what would happen to their financial aid if they became either injured or pregnant.

According to Tim Neal, assistant director of athletics for sports medicine at SU, the policy and stipulations are written clearly on an athlete's scholarship as well as in the manual. He admits, though, rules are sometimes overlooked or forgotten once the letter of intent has been signed.

"I think it's a matter of there's so many things for an athlete to remember," Neal said in a phone interview, "and it never occurs to them that they may not play for a period of time or ever again as a result of a medical condition. That's probably not the first or foremost thing they're thinking about."

At the time of the story last spring, Goodwin would not comment on why she chose to play while significantly pregnant, only saying she let head coach Quentin Hillsman know of her situation the night before the final game of the season on Feb. 25, at which point Hillsman informed the team training staff.

Goodwin and Hillsman both declined to be interviewed for this story.

Little has changed in the way the Syracuse athletics training staff educates athletes regarding pregnancy since news of Goodwin's pregnancy and birth. Neal said the staff meets with each team specifically before the year starts in the summer to go over basic health education agendas. Nothing was mentioned about pregnancy this summer, despite the fact the policy had just been officially put in writing. Neal also said that decision was purely coincidental to Goodwin's situation.

Barbara Henderson, senior associate director of athletics and senior women's administrator at Syracuse, said the administration might also meet with some SU coaches of women's teams to make sure the athletes are aware of Syracuse's new policy, but that hasn't happened yet.

The Daily Orange spoke to a former female Syracuse athlete who became pregnant while at SU in the past. The athlete - who chose to remain anonymous for the story - decided to end her athletic career after finding out she was pregnant, foregoing her remaining year of eligibility.

The athlete remained in school but also said she voluntarily declined her scholarship from the athletics department. In order to stay at Syracuse, she needed private grants, which she earned.

"I was pregnant my junior year, that summer, but I wasn't playing," she said. "I wasn't playing pregnant. Right away, once I found out I was pregnant, I made the decision to stop playing. So that was kind of like my decision."

A former coach of this athlete declined to comment for this story.

Former Syracuse Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel did not specifically remember this athlete's case. He did remember a small handful of other athletes who became pregnant while he was AD from 1978-2005. The number, he said, could be counted on two or three fingers.

As far as a policy, though, Crouthamel said there was nothing in writing and nothing specifically about pregnant athletes. He was not entirely sure whether or not every athlete maintained her scholarship.

"I don't think we did (have a policy)," Crouthamel said. "I'm not sure whether we intentionally stayed away from that or just stayed away from it. I do recall that we had a field hockey player who became pregnant, but I'm not even sure what happened there. I don't believe she lost her scholarship, but I'm not sure."

Crouthamel didn't feel the need for a policy because a "one size fits all" wasn't necessarily fair due to the varying conditions under which an athlete becomes pregnant. When asked about how he reacted to Goodwin's case, Crouthamel was not completely surprised about an athlete continuing her participation in sport while pregnant.

"There are degrees of pregnancy," Crouthamel said. "I'm not saying you either are pregnant or you're not; I'm saying you can be pregnant and one month pregnant. There's a heck of a lot of difference between that and six months pregnant."

According to the NCAA's 2007-08 Sports Medicine Handbook, sports with increased incidents of physical contact (including basketball) are considered higher risk after the first trimester because of the potential risk of abdominal trauma.

Neal, who is in his 28th year at Syracuse, said he has not heard of a single athlete at SU who went through with an abortion. There is no written policy that would prohibit a coach from demanding a player to have an abortion. ESPN reported in May that at least seven athletes at Clemson, plus more at Memphis, were asked to sign a team document stating that pregnancy will result in the modification of grant-in-aid money. Many of them had abortions to prevent losing scholarship money.

Neal said those cases were isolated and shouldn't be taken as the rule.

"One person acting out in a way that's probably not conducive to someone's health, I don't think you need to make a blanket statement for that," Neal said. "I think people understand what happened there."

Syracuse's current policy falls in line with what most other Big East schools have done. West Virginia, Louisville, DePaul, St. John's and Marquette don't have any written policy specifically regarding pregnant athletes, but they will not void a scholarship for health-related reasons. South Florida has a similar policy, but in writing.

Henderson said every year the Big East holds meetings for each school's senior female administrators. This was the first year pregnancy was brought up at their most recent meeting.

"Certainly the growing attention and discussion, and good discussion, that's happening nationally regarding pregnancy and student-athletes is a topic that is being discussed quite extensively right at this time," Henderson said in a phone interview.

Henderson said the meeting was not solely dedicated to the topic of pregnancy and that it was simply an opportunity to compare policies with other schools. She felt she has a good feeling of where Syracuse stands with its policy.

"I came away quite secure," Henderson said. "We have had good discussion here, and we have developed what I think is a very sound policy."

The University of Nevada, Reno recently adopted its own written policy regarding pregnant athletes, and its comprehensiveness may be without comparison. Along with ensuring the athlete does not lose her scholarship, Nevada's policy also includes referrals to daycare centers and parenting classes, academic progress monitoring, an active support team and even counseling and support for men whose partners become pregnant. Most importantly, all coaches or trainers must refer the athlete immediately to a health center physician. And if the athlete wants to remain confidential, she can simply go to the health center herself.

"Without a policy, everybody can kind of put in their own two cents," said Dr. Carol Scott, assistant director of student health services and team physician at Nevada who helped shape its policy. "So maybe one person believes this should be the right (approach) for this student, and then another person. … so you get a lot of opinions but really nobody that is following anything."

Scott went over the policy, which was enacted last spring, with the entire athletic body in August. Athletic trainers also went around to each team and presented the policy at compliance meetings. So far, Scott said, it has been very well received.

"I think when (athletes) know ahead of time there's a policy in place if this does happen," Scott said, "they do seem to be more willing to come in and talk to us.

"We tried to be pretty comprehensive, we tried to be fair, we tried to protect our student-athletes. And of course we want to protect the institution and the coaches and people like that. We want (coaches) to be very clear: they don't talk to students athletes about that at all, they get referred up here. And we take it from here."

Syracuse's open-door policy enables athletes to speak freely about their issues with members of the training staff. According to the manual, coaches should be the first to be informed, then passed off to Neal, who then informs the team physician.

It's a line of procession that has not changed, Goodwin's situation last April notwithstanding.

Neal said: "Our policy we encourage our athletes to come forward and come to the head coach and approach him - or her - and there the ball gets rolling in terms of their health care, and the physician determines whether or not they can play."