Conflicting circumstances swirl around pregnant athlete in Texas

Throughout both of my pregnancies, from start to finish, I exercised.

In fact, when I was about three months pregnant with my son, my beach volleyball team was in the playoffs, and I played.

My doctor was totally fine with it, but just asked that I be careful, listen to my body and report back to her frequently.

Mackenzie McCollum's doctor was fine with letting her play volleyball while pregnant, too.

My team won the league championship and that's pretty much where my story ended. My son was born healthy and he's now almost 9 years old.

But for McCollum, playing volleyball while pregnant is where her story only begins.

There are many problematic layers to it, and many conflicting opinions.

McCollum is a 17-year-old senior at a Fort Worth, Texas high school. She's been making all kinds of headlines lately.

According to an ESPN report, she claims that she was benched from her high school team because of her pregnancy.

When her doctor then wrote a note stating that she was healthy and clear to play during that stage of her pregnancy, she got to play, but her playing time was significantly reduced from the amount of time she was getting before people knew she was pregnant.

On top of all that, McCollum also says that her coach, Jack Warren, informed her teammates of her pregnancy without getting permission from her first.

That brings up privacy violations that McCollum isn't thrilled about.

In addition, McCollum's mother, Barbara Horton, has filed four complaints against the school district alleging that the school discriminated against her daughter "on the basis of her sex."

The federal government is now involved because gender discrimination within a federally-funded institution is a violation of the well-known federal law Title IX.

So basically, Horton's complaints allege that the school was treating McCollum differently because she was pregnant, something inherent only to women.

"My goal is for them to change their policies to include pregnant athletes, to nurture pregnant athletes and to make sure that these athletes are successful," Horton said.

That's all well and good. And it's admirable that McCollum and Horton have found a cause to be so passionate about.

I happen to agree with them. Schools shouldn't keep pregnant women from playing if they have been given the all-clear from a reputable doctor. Perhaps the women could take it a step further and even present a signed waiver for their files to absolve the school of any possible liability.

Strict privacy guidelines should also be enforced. Classmates have no right to know another student's medical status any more than they have the right to know her grades.

I'll be interested to see how far McCollum and Horton get with their school district, especially now that the feds are involved.

But honestly, I would think that a much more pressing issue right now for this mother and daughter is the fact that daughter will soon be an unwed, teenage mother.

I hope the two of them face those many challenges with as much vigor and determination.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com