March Madness: The NCAA is Under Fire Following Women’s Tournament Disparities
Jan. 16, 2020 The University of Oregon’s Kelly Graves, Minyon Moore, Ruthy Heard and Sedona Prince rejoice after a victory over Stanford University in Eugene, Oregon.
Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard/TNS
By: Tialena Evans
Every year basketball fans from all around the nation look forward to the madness that is the NCAA Tournament, but this time around March Madness made a name for itself…. literally.
Both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments are currently in progress, but in two separate parts of the country. The men’s tournament being held in Indianapolis, Indiana and the women’s in San Antonio, Texas.
But that isn’t the only disparity between the two. The NCAA is now under fire after a women’s basketball player, Sedona Prince for the Oregon Ducks shared a TikTok video on Twitter showcasing the vast differences between the men’s and women’s facilities.
The women’s teams were given a single rack of dumbbells as a part of their “weight room”, which was placed on the same court as their practice gym.
Meanwhile, the men’s weight room was shown to be an actual room on its own, equipped with ample space and equipment for players to train.
Let me put it on Twitter too cause this needs the attention pic.twitter.com/t0DWKL2YHR
— Sedona Prince (@sedonaprince_) March 19, 2021
“Let me put it on Twitter too cause this needs the attention,” she wrote — hoping the transparency between the two facilities would invoke a response from the public and action by the NCAA.
And if you think that was bad, it doesn’t stop there.
It was also shown that the gender disparities stretch from the foods that they eat to the quantity of gifted NCAA paraphernalia to even the quality of COVID-19 tests given to players.
It doesn’t stop at the weight room.....this is pathetic pic.twitter.com/U4VB3AcB3J
— 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞 💛⁴¹ (@SerbianHooker) March 19, 2021
More disparities in the NCAA bubble: the women are getting less accurate COVID antigen tests while the men are getting PCR tests, known as the "gold standard."
— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@mollyhc) March 19, 2021
I've put out two requests for comment to the NCAA but haven't heard back. https://t.co/IASVSkKQoG
You don’t have to be a fan of college basketball or even basketball period to realize that something is wrong here.
Social media blew up over what they saw and even NBA players expressed their outrage and discontent with how the NCAA has handled how the women’s tournament is treated.
Pretty clear the NCAA never expected to be caught. This isn’t about money or revenue. They have more than enough to provide adequate equipment. They just didn’t feel that women athletes were worth the effort. https://t.co/Q50PRor743
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 19, 2021
Seeing more and more come out in the differences of men's tournament vs women's tournament is so so so infuriating. WHAT IS WRONG W YOU NCAA ADMIT FAULT (all of it) AND BE BETTER. Be much better.
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) March 19, 2021
Wtf is going on @NCAA!!!?! ridiculous!!!! These young women are making a equal sacrifice, working thisr ass off, to be treated like this is a disgrace. Get your shit together before the next round!! Treat our women RIGHT!!
— Baron Davis (@BaronDavis) March 20, 2021
South Carolina’s women’s basketball head decided to chime in on the issue.
The situation moved so many people that even big name brands have decided to step up and help out where they could.
Companies such as Tonal and Dick’s Sporting Goods reached out and donated fitness equipment for the women’s tournament teams within a day.
@NCAA Our teammates have worked quickly to get truckloads of fitness equipment ready to send to the women’s @ncaawbb @marchmadness bubble – we are standing by to deliver it and have your facility outfitted within hours! Let’s make this happen. pic.twitter.com/6QJJjrrDgx
— DICK'S Sporting Goods (@DICKS) March 19, 2021
. @sedonaprince_ This is ridiculous. Let’s one up them. We’re sending 10 Tonal Smart Gyms that will arrive in San Antonio tomorrow for all of the players. Please DM us for next steps.
— Tonal (@tonal) March 19, 2021
Good luck to all of the @marchmadness teams! https://t.co/3JqLO4SQ1t
So far the NCAA has put out a statement apologizing for the disparities between the men’s and women’s facilities and claims “ [they] have intentionally organized basketball under one umbrella [at the NCAA] to ensure consistency and collaboration.”
NCAA leaders address weight room, other amenities in San Antonio: https://t.co/XJrm0njBx4 pic.twitter.com/uvqcQdDALi
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 19, 2021
In response to the extensive negative outrage, the NCAA has also made upgrades to provide the women’s with an actual weight room facility with plentiful equipment to train.
Ready for workouts!@espn’s Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) walks through the on-going updates to the pre-practice strength area and new first/second round weight room at the @ncaawbb Tournament: pic.twitter.com/uOwztcsqVy
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 20, 2021
While the quick response of the NCAA is nice, it shouldn’t have ever had to get to this point. Sexism and gender equality is such a huge issue in the world and you would think the NCAA, being such a big platform that it is, would try harder to make sure that this wouldn’t be an issue to address.
Many people justify these disparities by pointing out that men’s basketball brings in more income than women’s, but if the NCAA is funding the tournament, then both parties should receive equal treatment.
The NCAA tournament is a package deal, men’s and women’s, regardless of who fans want to spend their day watching.
Hopefully this issue promotes a greater effort in the equal treatment of women’s sports, because they are just as hard working and deserving as their male counterparts.
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