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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe teams had barely landed in Texas when complaints of inequity between the women’s and men’s NCAA basketball tournaments roared over social media posts noting the women’s weight training facilities in San Antonio were severely lacking compared to what the men have in Indianapolis.
The women’s field has 64 teams and the men’s tournament has 68.
In a Twitter post, Ali Kershner, Stanford University’s sports performance coach for women’s basketball, posted a photo of a single stack of weights next to a training table with sanitized yoga mats, comparing it to pictures of massive facilities for the men with stacks of free weights, dumbbells and squat racks.
“These women want and deserve to be given the same opportunities,” Kershner tweeted. “In a year defined by a fight for equality, this is a chance to have a conversation and get better.”
Several of the top women’s basketball players see it as a bigger issue than just a subpar weight room.
“We are all grateful to be here and it took a lot of effort for them to put this all together,” UConn freshman All-American Paige Bueckers said on an AP Twitter chat Thursday night. “It’s more of a principle thing. It’s not just a weight room that’s a problem. It’s the inequality of the weight rooms that’s the problem. There’s another tweet going around with the swag bag. It’s not just the weight room. It’s the inequalities and the better stuff the men get.”
South Carolina star Aliyah Boston agreed with Bueckers about the inequities.
“The men have everything in that weight room and we have yoga mats,” she said. “What are we supposed to do that. The bags, I’m glad we got a body wash, but they got a whole store.”
The current players got a lot of support from several top former college and current WNBA players who quickly tweeted support for the women and criticism of the NCAA.
“That NCAA bubble weight room situation is beyond disrespectful,” tweeted A’ja Wilson, who led South Carolina to the 2017 national championship and now plays for the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA.
NCAA Senior Vice President of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said the governing body would try to quickly improve the equipment available at the women’s tournament. The original setup was limited because of a lack of available space in San Antonio, with plans to expand once the tournament field shrunk in the later rounds.
“We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment. In part, this is due to the limited space, and the original plan was to expand the workout area once additional space was available later in the tournament,” Holzman said. “However, we want to be responsive to the needs of our participating teams, and we are actively working to enhance existing resources at practice courts, including additional weight training equipment.”
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Or maybe Indiana is just a better place to host a tournament. Let’s bring the women’s tournament here next year:) #hoosierhospitality
In Twitter postings, women players are showing that the San Antonio convention center has lots of open space next to the practice facilities. NCAA missed the boat on this one.
One question: who provided the swag? NCAA or host cities?
It’s not just sports. After 12+ years in major state university administration, my base compensation remains 15% below that of the man I replaced. I have raised the issue twice, to little avail.
Hope not to get crucified on this, but from what I have read the NCAA makes about $750 – $800 million on the Men’s tournament TV deal versus $35 million on the Women’s TV deal. It doesn’t make the different treatment of each set of teams right, but does add some context to it.
Barbara’s situation is a better example of unequal pay or treatment for providing the same service with no logical reason.