According to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, an institution shall confirm the sickle cell trait status of student-athletes before participation in intercollegiate athletics in one of the following manners:
    a. The student-athletes may provide documented results of a sickle cell solubility test administered prior to participation.
    b. A student-athlete who has taken a sickle cell solubility test but whose results are not yet confirmed may participate provided the student-athlete engages in mandatory education and receives appropriate precautions as set forth by the institution.
New York State began screening all infants for sickle cell disease in 1975 as part of the Newborn Screening panel. Such testing also identifies newborns with sickle cell trait (an individual with a single sickle cell gene and one normal gene). Such individuals are typically without symptoms but, rarely, may develop serious health problems during extreme physical stress such as severe dehydration.
Effective January 1, 2025 the NYS Department of Health’s Newborn Screen Program’s record and retention policy changed and they will only store newborn screening results and specimens for 10 years (previously it was up to 27 years). Therefore the ability to request newborn screen results is no longer an option.
The following options are available for a student-athlete to provide their sickle cell trait status to us to meet the NCAA requirement.
    1. Access newborn screen results from your birth record through your birth hospital or pediatrician.
    2. Obtain a prescription from your healthcare provider for a sickle cell solubility blood test.
To obtain results for student-athletes who were not born in NYS, we recommend contacting the newborn screening program in the State where they were born to learn about their current policies for releasing results of newborn screening tests. Or have your current healthcare provider order a sickle cell solubility blood test.
