NCAA women’s basketball players are celebrating this weekend after receiving an upgraded weight room following complaints that the women’s facilities were subpar compared to the men’s.
NCAA Women’s Basketball posted a photo of the new gym on Twitter, declaring, “The weight room has arrived! Let’s gooooo.”
Earlier this week, Stanford University Sports Performance Coach Ali Kershner shared images on Instagram of a small rack of dumbbells in the women’s weight room next to an image of a vast expanse of benches, racks and barbell weights in the men’s weight room.
“[T]his needs to be addressed,” Kershner wrote in the post.
“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.”
By Saturday, a new social media post was making the rounds, boasting upgraded facilities, including new dumbbells and racks, plus bands and other exercise equipment.
“Guess what guys? We got a new weight room,” one player declared in the video posted to TikTok and Twitter. “Thank you NCAA for listening to us. We appreciate you all.”
On Friday, Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president for women’s basketball, said in a statement that the association “fell short” in providing equitable facilities for women basketball players.
“As a former women’s basketball student-athlete, it’s always been my priority to make this event the best possible experience for everyone involved,” she said. “We fell short this year in what we’ve been doing to prepare in the past 60 days for 64 teams to be here in San Antonio.”
NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee Chair Nina King added that she has “confidence that as a women’s basketball community we can work together and address the shortfalls here in San Antonio and moving forward.”
