Multiple NCAA women’s basketball players and staff have drawn public attention to disparities and substandard facilities at the NCAA tournament location in Texas.
In a post Thursday, Stanford University Sports Performance Coach Ali Kershner shared images of a small rack of dumbbells — the women’s weight room — beside an image of a vast expanse with benches, racks and barbell weights — the men’s weight room.
“[T]his needs to be addressed,” Kershner wrote.
“These women want and deserve to be given the same opportunities. Not only that – 3 weeks in a bubble and no access to DBs above 30’s until the sweet 16? In a year defined by a fight for equality this is a chance to have a conversation and get better.”
Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball, acknowledged in a statement Thursday “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,” she continued. “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.”
But on Friday, Oregon player Sedona Prince disputed the claim that there was no space for the women to have an equitable weight room.
“This is our weight room,” Prince said in a TikTok video verified by NBC News, showing a small weight rack. “This is the men’s weight room,” she says, panning across a vast space with workout benches, racks and many more weights.
Yikes. Sedona Prince, a member of University of Oregon’s Women’s Basketball Team, shows off the disparity between the NCAA’s amenities for its women’s teams vs. the men’s teams. She also appears to quash the claim there wasn’t enough space for equipment for the women. pic.twitter.com/WbPi7CNLaF
— Kalhan (@KalhanR) March 19, 2021
She also appeared to debunk an NCAA claim that the disparity was caused by a lack of space, panning her camera to show a large, empty space around their weight rack.
“If you’re not upset about this problem, then your’e a part of it,” Prince said.
The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but NBC News San Antonio reported that Holzman told reporters the NCAA “fell short” in providing equitable facilities for women basketball players and promised improvements by Saturday morning.
