To Be Equal: The NCAA's Problem & Solution For Women Basketball Athletes
On Mar. 18th, the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) faced scrutiny for their unequal treatment of women’s basketball athletes in comparison to their male counterparts that came to light during March Madness.
The viral video that snowballed all the discrepancies between the female and male athletes started by Sedona Prince, University of Oregon’s Redshirt Senior, releasing a video on TikTok highlighting the differences in the weight rooms available to women athletes and male athletes.
The difference between the Men’s (top) and Women’s (bottom) weight rooms for the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament. (Sabrina Ionescu via Twitter @sabrina_i20)
Shortly following the viral video, Prince also posted a video reviewing the food that female athletes were provided along with a picture displaying the food accessible to the male athletes. In the video, the food provided to the female athletes is displayed as packaged boxes with unsavory quality produce contained which could be viewed similarly to frozen store-bought quality meals. In comparison, the male athletes had tables stacked with multiple containers providing a variety of cooked, well-prepared meals that the male athletes can choose as they wish.
Food provided to female athletes (left) vs the male athletes (right) for NCAA Basketball Tournament. (via @overtimewbb on Instagram)
The next viral discrepancy was the difference in “swag” materials that were provided to the athletes for participating in the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament. The men’s basketball athletes were significantly gifted more than their female counterparts.
Material gifted to men’s basketball athletes (left) vs. material gifted to women’s basketball athletes (right). (@AJ_McCord via Twitter)
After the differences in treatment between male and female basketball players became news to the world, the NCAA received a magnitude of feedback asking for equality and the end to the favoritism of only men’s sports. The NCAA released a statement after hearing the demands of the public.
The NCAA’s statement on Women’s Basketball Tournament. (via NCAA)
On Friday, Mar. 19, Lynn Holzman, the NCAA vice president for women’s basketball, announced at a media briefing for the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship that they would address the discrepancies. Regarding the weight room availability for the women’s basketball athletes, change was accomplished as a new area was designated with an abundance of improvements made to accommodate their needs and demands.
The new NCAA weight room for women’s basketball. (via NCAA)
However, this seemed to be just one of many changes that still needed to be addressed. Regarding the differences in gifts rewarded to the athletes, Holzman stressed that the gifts are valued equally between the male and female athletes. The food situation was able to be salvaged through the help of staff and local restaurants to provide more flexible options to the athletes.
The entirety of the NCAA’s statement regarding the Women’s Basketball Tournament can be found here.
With March Madness being the biggest event the NCAA presents, their problems and solutions have all been under microscopic review by millions of eyes. The biggest takeaway from this event has been that women athletes are not treated the same as their male counterparts.
In an interview with The Associated Press, NCAA President Mark Emmert addressed how NCAA arrived at their current situation. In a stunning line that personally caught my attention, Emmert commented “Clearly we should have had better communication between my teams.”
Aside from the basketball tournament being arguably one of the biggest sporting events in the United States, the past year revolving around inequalities against differences in race, gender, sexuality, and religion, it is questionable how these inequalities of treatment of female athletes did not come to mind in the planning of the tournament.
As both men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are coming to a close soon, the question will still remain even after the tournament’s conclusion: How will the NCAA make changes to treat their athletes equally?