Basketball players like Paige Bueckers (Connecticut), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), Aliyah Boston (South Carolina), and Dana Evans (Louisville) arrived at the NCAA’s Women’s March Madness tournament in San Antonio, Texas as part of the NCAA’s next generation of stars.
The expectations of providing the top women’s college basketball players in the country with full amenities and accommodations fell short when the NCAA offered the men’s basketball team a fully equipped weight room compared to the women who received not even half of what their male counterparts got in Indianapolis.
It was first brought to social media’s attention when Stanford’s sports performance coach, Ali Kershner, posted two photos on Instagram. One photo showcasing the men’s setup of benches and other types of weight equipment. The other photo was a tremendous difference between the women’s setup of a set of free weights and some yoga mats.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMkRJ2LswFp/
With the images of the weight facilities going viral on social media, there are many other factors that came to light of NCAA’s inadequate distributions. The women’s teams have received less impressive “swag bags,” and less reliable COVID-19 antigen tests compared to the men’s teams who received the gold standard PCR tests.
“Some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as avaible inside that 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.”
A statment released by NCAA’s Vice President of Women’s Basketball, Lynn Holzman.
Basketball player, Sedona Prince of the Oregon Ducks, posted a video disputing the statement of “limited space” and showcased all the extra space for gym equipment.
“If you’re not upset by this problem, then you’re part of it,” she added.
The inequalities in the men’s and women’s workout equipment have struck up backlash from coaches, players, fans and social media. Even Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced to bring “truckloads of fitness equipment” for the players in San Antonio. Orange Theory Fitness offered to invite players for private sessions and deliever flood/weight equipment to them.
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