Are Pregnant Athletes Selfish or Are Policies of Equality Lacking?

    

     There has been a debate that pregnant athletes are being selfish for hiding or keeping secret their pregnancies while playing their sports well into the third trimester.  While some of their defining reasons for hiding it may be different, I think the end reasoning is the same – they just want to play as long as their rights allow them to. This wasn’t always the case, however, and I think this is the reason why some women are still cautious about when and to whom they reveal their pregnancies. Let’s look at two different groups of affected athletes: professional athletes and college/high school athletes.

     Concerns and fears still do not disappear for professional athletes. For WNBA players, basketball is their career.  A league veteran, Allison Feaster was still nervous when she got pregnant: "I was really concerned about just announcing my pregnancy and how it would affect my ability to stay in my job. I'd say put the pressure on the lawmakers to do their part so that we are protected." Other stars like DeMya Walker and Marie Ferdinand are also pregnant realities of the WNBA and other women's professional leagues. Seeing athletes play out their postpartum weight loss on national TV offers an up-close view of what it takes to get back into game shape. Houston Comets star Sheryl Swoopes is proof it can be done. She has been named MVP a record three times since having her son Jordan 10 years ago. The athletes of the WNBA are the best of the best, and their league has a supportive pregnancy policy. Not every athlete is so lucky.

     The choices collegiate athletes confront have been complicated by both the lack of university policies addressing the issue and by universities’ discriminatory practices, such as the withdrawal of athletic scholarships from athletes who become pregnant. In 2003, a Sacred Heart University basketball player alleged that she was asked to leave the team after her pregnancy became known. According to the player, the coach told her that the pregnancy would be a “distraction” to the team. After the university denied the player’s request for “medical redshirt” status, typically given to injured athletes to enable them to retain their athletic scholarships, she met with the university’s athletic director and its Title IX compliance officer. These officials promised to reinstate her scholarship and allow her to resume participation on the team after having she gave birth. Nonetheless, the coach continued to shun her when she returned from maternity leave and excluded her from participating in team activities. The player subsequently left the university and filed a Title IX suit alleging pregnancy discrimination. The case eventually settled out of court with no reported decision and on undisclosed terms. These stories and more can be found in the article by Deborah Brake, The Invisible Pregnant Athlete and the Promise of Title IX, retrieved from http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlg/vol312/323-366.pdf



USC's Brynn Cameron

    
     Decisions also affect high school athletes just as hard, if not harder. Making the decision to keep the child can affect their future more than it should. Take the example of Darnellia Russell, a high school student from Seattle. Darnellia had hoped, through an athletic scholarship, to fulfill her dream of becoming the first in her family to go to college. Her high school coach saw her true potential when she was just a junior. She had letters of interest from a number of schools before she got pregnant. After the baby the interest pretty much disappeared, and with it, Darnellia's dreams of a college education and maybe even the WNBA. Darnellia would love the opportunity to show a school that she has come back from her pregnancy. She is waiting for the phone to ring with a college coach giving her that chance.

     With many more stories like these, students may feel compelled to make decisions that are beyond their true desires because they are not given a fair chance.  So are pregnant athletes selfish? I think not. It seems all they want is to continue to live healthy lifestyles and to stay in their profession as long as other pregnant business women do. If they are taking care and control of the best interest of the baby than I say all the more power to them. We are all strong and resilient and should be given the opportunities to prove ourselves again, no matter what level of participation.