NCAA drops the ball for women’s basketball tournament

A+screenshot+from+a+video+taken+by+Sedona+Prince+of+the+differences+between+the+mens+and+womens+weight+room+facilities+at+the+NCAA+Basketball+Tournament

Screenshot of Sedona Prince's Twitter post

A screenshot from a video taken by Sedona Prince of the differences between the men’s and women’s weight room facilities at the NCAA Basketball Tournament

Rachel Stanley, Journalism Student

After a famous Tik Tok star, Sedona Prince, posted a video showing the differences among the men’s and women’s accommodations, the unequal resources and provisions caught national attention.

Initially, the NCAA provided one set of weights, and a single rack for the women to use in their weight room. Days after women began reaching out for more weight accommodations, the NCAA provided adequate weight racks, dumbbells, and workout bands.

ABC News reported Lynn Holzman, vice president of the NCAA’s women’s basketball, said, “We fell short this year.” In response to the national outrage that the NCAA faced, they have provided adequate weights and accommodations for the women’s team. They also provided better quality food, and came out with an apology for the mistakes they made this year with the women’s team.

The women’s meals came delivered to the rooms that they were in and contained a full meal, but the quality of the food was poor. In a video posted by Sedona Prince, a participant of the March Madness women’s tournament, showed a slimy looking meal that seemed to be microwaved and old. Also featured in the video was the reactions of many team members trying the food, in which they simply discarded or ate what was edible from the package.

ESPN did a full interview with the head coach of the Stanford women’s basketball team, Tara VanDerveer. VanDerveer struggled with the problems of inequality of basketball when she was a teenager and views the matters of today very seriously.

VanDerveer, being the head coach, was directly involved in the issues of sexism that the women’s teams experienced. VanDerveer called the NCAA out for “blatant sexism” and was quoted writing, “I feel betrayed by the NCAA.”