‘DROPPING THE BALL’
NCAA officials vow changes over disparity in amenities between men’s and women’s tournaments
Pressure from women’s college basketball players and staff via social media brought to light discrepancies between conditions at the men’s and women’s tournaments, forcing the NCAA to make swift changes to amenities and facilities in San Antonio.
Social media posts shared
Thursday and Friday night included one from Stanford sports performance coach Ali
Kershner showing side-by-side photos of an expansive workout room for the men and a small rack of weights and yoga mats for the women. Other glaring differences and shared on social media between the women’s tournament site and the men’s in Indianapolis included the food options and gift bags. It would later come to light that even the CO
VID-19 testing is different.
“It definitely is eye-opening just seeing the guys weight room (in Indianapolis),” said UConn junior Christyn Williams, whose team arrived in Texas Tuesday and quarantined two days before seeing the weight-training facility. “We’ve been fighting for gender equality for a while now. That just goes to show that we have a lot of work to do. And I’m calling out the NCAA, there’s no excuse for that. It’s unacceptable, and they need to do better.
Williams, who had no issue with the food nor hotel, called the weight room “ridiculous.”
“What are we going to do with 5-pound dumbbells?” she asked. “The guys have the luxury of the whole weight room. It’s unfortunate.”
UConn athletic director David Benedict is in Indianapolis with the men’s program, but learned of the conditions before speaking with Hearst Connecticut Friday.
“It’s ridiculous, ridiculous,” Benedict said. “Based on pictures coming from student-athletes, there's plenty of space where they could have done more. So it's not a space issue. It's either an oversight issue, they just made a mistake, or there's another unknown reason, which one would have to presume is monetary. So it's either just an oversight or it's a monetary issue. Neither one is an excuse.”
The NCAA reacted to the initial social media storm by issuing a statement Thursday that cited a lack of space for the training room issue. But Oregon basketball player Sedona Prince refuted the NCAA’s claim by posting a TikTok video that showed ample unused space and by saying, “If you are not upset about this problem, then you are part of it.”
Her tweet was shared by NBA star Stephen Curry, among others. On Friday morning, the NCAA held a Zoom call with the media.
“We fell short this year in what we’ve been doing to prepare in the last 60 days for 64 teams to be here in San Antonio, and we acknowledge that,” NCAA vice president of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said.
Holzman, addressing what she called the “elephant
in the room,” said she held a call Wednesday with all 64 teams to receive feedback and discuss potential solutions.
“We are actively working on that and the things that will be in place by [Saturday] morning,” Holzman said.
This year’s tournament is being staged entirely in the San Antonio area because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some firstround games in nearby San Marcos and Austin. Teams are spread across seven hotels in Texas, and Thursday was the first day they all had the opportunity to practice.
The entire men’s tournament is being held in the Indianapolis area.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma is not with the team in Texas after testing positive COVD-19. Speaking on a media Zoom call from his Connecticut home, Auriemma said he has followed from a distance.
“It certainly doesn't put us, speaking (of) women's basketball, particularly … it doesn't put us in the best possible light,” Auriemma said. “Again, you know, I’m not there, I’m not privy to any of the details of exactly what and how things were put together and why. But for what I see and from what people have put out there, it doesn't present a very good picture at all.”
UConn All-American freshman Paige Buckers said Thursday night the team is “grateful” to be in the tournament, adding “it took a lot of effort for them to put this all together.”
“It’s more of a principle thing. It’s not just a weight room that’s a problem,” Bueckers said in an AP Twitter chat. “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.”
‘Not acceptable’
Associate head coach Chris Dailey is running the team in Auriemma’s absence. Dailey called the training room inequity “not acceptable” and said it reflects the larger issue of gender inequity.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’re still not close to where we need to be,” Dailey said. “You can appreciate where we’ve come from, and I can certainly appreciate where we’ve come from. The inequity of things, even at the Final Four a few years ago there were things that were not fair.”
Dailey encouraged women to use their platform to make change.
“On one hand, it’s unfortunate that it happened,” Dailey said, “but on the other hand there’s been a response to it. Hopefully it’ll improve not only for the rest of this tournament, but for the future.”
Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president of basketball, apologized for “dropping the ball” and promised to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
“We need to continue to make efforts possible over the next three weeks as we adjust the situation we’re in and improve on a day-today basis so that the experience only gets better,” said Gavitt, who oversees both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Benedict also called the disparity in amenities “disappointing.”
“I think sometimes it appears that the two sides — there are two different groups planning these events — don't talk to one another relative to what they're doing,” he said.
Other posts compared the difference in gift bags given to the women and the men, along with comments on the food selections.
Williams, a junior, also expressed concern about COVID-19 testing. In addition to PCR tests, the women have been administered rapid antigen tests, which tend to have a significantly higher false-positive rate. The men are using strictly PCR-based tests.
“It’s mind-blowing,” she said.
The Huskies knew that’d be the case, Auriemma said, and that it hasn’t been an issue so far. All members of the team’s Tier 1 bubble have tested negative since arriving in Texas.
“I don’t know why one is one way and one is the other,” he said.
NCAA president Mark Emmert told The Athletic, “We have complete confidence in all the medical protocols that have been put together. They’ve been put together by medical advisers on a national and a local level, and we’re operating completely consistent with all those protocols. We’re using two different providers . ... There’s no differential at all in terms of the risks that are involved.”