March Madness, Women need not apply
It is the middle of March Madness, but that phrase truly only applies to the men’s-side of the tournament. As the NCAA notes on its official Twitter account for the March Madness Tournament it is “The official NCAA March Madness destination for all things Division I NCAA Men's Basketball.” Nary a mention of the Division 1 NCA Women’s Basketball side of the tournament.
By now you have probably seen the glaring discrepancies present at the NCAA tournaments between men’s and women’s facilities, food options, COVID-19 testing, swag bags, and more. The glaring disproportionate amenities and treatment has led to a social media frenzy with global outlets picking up the story.
When Sedona Prince, (Oregon Ducks women's basketball #32 / Forward) posted a video on the discrepancy between the weight room for the women in the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, TX and the weight room for the men in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, IN, the world seemed to finally understand. More stories came out about the quality of food at each facility and the utter disregard the NCAA had in equal treatment.
Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach. Staley is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and head coach of the University of South Carolina women's basketball team. She spoke out about the discrepancies on Twitter. She also just hit a milestone 500th win, so congrats Coach.
Many pointed to Title IX and said the NCAA was in violation of the federal law, but that is actually not the case. The law does not apply to the NCAA who allegedly takes no federal funding. Another fun fact is that the NCAA is actually tax exempt as a 501c3 entity, but they do make close to a BILLION USD per year. The universities these women attend, however, are required to follow Title IX and not doing so can bring them into lawsuit territory.
Many point to economic factors as to why the men’s and women’s facilities were different, pointing the misguided conclusions about which gender produces more money for the NCAA. However, money is not the factor here and the NCAA does not point to money being the factor since they do make a BILLION USD per year. The NCAA actually pointed to “lack of space” as a factor to providing inadequate and subpar workout facilities for the women’s teams. That excuse was quickly shown to hold no truth as Sedona showed in her videos on social media.
The NCAA then said they planned to provide the facilities later and then still yet said they were working on it. The NCAA told the women’s teams they wouldn’t provide weight rooms for them until the Sweet 16 for the women, but the men had a fully stocked weight room before the tournament started.
“We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment,” Holzman said on Thursday. “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. 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.”
Finally, when the issue gained enough steam from news outlets, the NCAA capitulated and provided more of a weight room to the women’s teams. However, it was still grossly subpar to the men’s facilities. Some people on Twitter tried to, unsuccessfully, use their anecdotal evidence about what equipment they have seen women use in the gym and analogized that women don’t need weights and squat racks. It is fascinating that these individuals essentially used an analogy that I haven’t seen it, therefore it doesn’t exist. It also glosses over the disparity in treatment between the men’s teams and the women’s teams. This shows how far women still have to go to be treated with respect and equity in the world.
Professional athletes including Steph Curry, Aja Wilson, CJ McCollum, Kyrie Irving, among many others spoke against the mistreatment of the women.
With the NCAA already under fire from the Justice Department for potential anti-trust violations, they are skating on thin ice. The NCAA is currently in a court battle at the highest level when the Supreme Court of the United States of America granted cert to hear the case entitled NCAA v Alston. This case could determine the fate of athletes being able to profit off their Name, Image, & Likeness along with the rules regarding transferring schools.
Time will tell how the NCAA will be restructured, or if it will cease to exist in its present form. One thing is for sure, the power of women speaking out for equal treatment in life is eliciting real changes at the highest levels.
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About the Author:
Alex holds a BBA in Marketing and a JD from Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University School of Law, respectively. She has been an in-house counsel for a famous sports family, a multinational company, various startups, and most recently, a professional sports team. She has also led marketing, public relations, sponsorship generation, negotiation of media deals, and negotiation of various contracts including employment contracts for professional athletes, NDAs, and sponsorship deals.
She also has a creative bug and has worked remotely for USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NFL Wire sites since 2016 as a journalist, content producer, voice over & on-camera personality. She provides her unique perspective on all things NFL including national anthem policies, sports betting, DE&I, and was the first female to be hired by the NFL Wire sites. Alex was also selected to sit on an esports Board of Directors and chairs the Legal & Governance Committee and is the first woman to hold either position.