OPINION: WERE SARAH DEVENS AND KATRINA PRICE TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING?

By Al Mattei

Founder, TopOfTheCircle.com

In 1995, Sarah Devens finished a spectacular three-sport athletic career at Dartmouth with a trip to the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse Final Four. Few people in the record throng at The College of New Jersey knew that only a few days later, Devens would be found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In late 1998, Katrina Price, a guard for the Philadelphia Rage, found out that she was losing her job. The reason was not because of a training-camp move or injury. Instead, the circumstances were far, far out of her control. The American Basketball League -- of which the Rage was a part -- had folded. Less than a month afterward, Price was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The parallels in each situation are scary. Friends of both athletes related stories about their passions for their respective sports. And stories were told of both athletes' uncertainty and resulting depressions about their future in athletics.

For Devens, a star in field hockey and ice hockey as well as lacrosse at Dartmouth, the thought of having few possible outlets for any of her three passions was, according to friends of hers, more than this kinetic woman could bear. The dearth of field hockey, lacrosse, and ice hockey opportunities after college had dominated her thoughts.

A groundbreaking article, appearing in Sports Illustrated in the summer of 1995, painted a portrait of a woman who could not only not stand still, but one who showed signs of near-burnout at times.

"I remember last year when we established a policy that she had to take a week off between seasons and relax, and we all laughed because we knew she wouldn't," Dartmouth field hockey coach Julie Dayton told SI. "Sure enough, somebody would see her running laps in the gym."

The story implied that the thoughts of having no fall field hockey season to look forward to consumed Devens. One quote from an acquaintance was particularly chilling:

"The thing is, she was so good at everything, as a person and an athlete, that she got on this vicious cycle. She wanted to please everybody, and she couldn't stop. She wanted to rest, and this was the only way she knew how."

Price had many of the same anxious feelings when the ABL folded, and members of the Rage were cast off, allowing them to sign in Europe or, perhaps, to gain a slot with the marketing machine known as the WNBA.

"(The ABL's demise) is what everybody is going to think," said friend Kristen Webb to The Washington Post. "But unless she talked to her sisters, nobody is ever going to know. She was a good person. Something obviously really had to be bothering her."

Price had to know that the WNBA -- a guard-heavy league with marketed stars like Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, Cynthia Cooper, Sue McConnell-Serio and Michelle Timms -- would be difficult to break into, even with expansion teams in Minneapolis and Orlando. And the competition for roster spots would be even more difficult with super guards like Dawn Staley, Jennifer Azzi, and Jennifer Rizzotti coming in from ex-ABL franchises, and new backcourt stars on the horizon like Allison Feaster, Stephanie White-McCarty, Kellie Jolley, and Chamique Holdsclaw ready to make their presence felt in the WNBA.

"She had talked about trying to get in shape with the strength and conditioning coordinator and working on preparing to try out for the WNBA," her former college coach Royce Chadwick told The Post.

Suicide is one of the most irrational, futile acts which can be committed in Western civilization by an individual. However, on the surface, Sarah Devens and Katrina Price were rational, intelligent people who excelled at team sports in an era of unparalleled opportunities for women.

These kinds of opportunities were supposed to enhance the chance to make a living playing a professional team sport.

Devens' and Price's acts, as such, deserve scrutiny. Were they, in their final acts, crying out for help? Were they protesting the lack of opportunities for women in athletics?

Or were they suggesting that, perhaps, equal opportunity is not enough if careers are as short-lived as a four-year college career or the 2 1/2 years of the ABL?

Or, it is possible that trauma in their lives contributed to their depression? According to the SI article, Devens' parents divorced when she was in grade school. And the Associated Press reported that Price's father died in 1998, following the 1993 death of her mother.

Both of these experiences are among the kinds which, if not treated properly by health professionals, can lead to irrational behavior like depression, eating disorders, and suicide.

We may never know the real reasons for the deaths of Sarah Devens and Katrina Price. All we do know is that two young women have left grieving family, friends, and teammates behind, and the world of women's athetics is worse off.

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