Players and coaches from several women’s college basketball teams called out the NCAA on Thursday for the unequal access it has provided to weight rooms and equipment during March Madness.
Men’s teams have access to a full weight room at their NCAA tournament in Indiana.
Women’s teams, on the other hand, don’t have access to a weight room of any kind until the Sweet 16, multiple performance coaches said.
In the meantime, their accommodations are meager. Women’s basketball “only has access to 1 stationary bike and a ‘weight pyramid’ for the first 2 rounds,” Texas director of sports performance Zack Zillner said on Twitter.
“This needs to be addressed,” she wrote. “These women want and deserve to be given the same opportunities.”
The heaviest weights on the pyramid, according to Kershner, are 30 pounds.
The weight rooms that will be available to women’s teams if they advance to the Sweet 16 will feature two bikes, a treadmill, adjustable benches, weight racks, bars and dumbbells.
According to Molly Binetti, the performance coach for No. 1 seed South Carolina, the dumbbells will be “up to 50 [pounds] because women can’t lift more than that,” as she wrote, presumably sarcastically, on Twitter.
The NCAA’s response
When asked about the inequities, the NCAA did not address them directly, but issued the following statement, attributed to NCAA vice president of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman:
“We acknowledge 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. 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.”
In Indianapolis, a massive convention center houses 12 practice courts and six full-size weight rooms. Teams are able to reserve the training spaces for blocks of time. Strength coaches appear to be happy with what they have at their disposal:
In San Antonio – where the entire convention center is significantly bigger than the one in Indianapolis, but where the exhibit hall floor is slightly smaller – there are large spaces that, as of Thursday afternoon, remain mostly unfilled.
More criticism, other inequities
Oregon center Sedona Prince posted a video on social media exposing the differences, and “all this extra space” that, as of Thursday afternoon, was unused:
An NCAA representative told Yahoo Sports that organizers initially didn’t believe there was sufficient space for dedicated weight rooms. But after a walking tour of the convention center on Wednesday, they realized there was in fact space for weightlifting equipment adjacent to the practice courts.
It’s unclear why that walkthrough didn’t happen before Wednesday, after some teams had already arrived in San Antonio, and four days before the start of the tournament.
Prince also posted videos to social media that appeared to show inequities between the food available to men’s and women’s teams. Some women’s players are reportedly “only eating the snacks they brought,” rather than the provided meals.
According to UConn coach Geno Auriemma, there are also inequities in COVID-19 testing. Women’s teams, he said on a conference call with reporters, are getting antigen tests, while men’s teams get the more accurate PCR tests. An NCAA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on testing inequities.
“I write to express the committee’s shock and disappointment over the disparate treatment of our women student-athletes,” committee chair Suzette McQueen wrote, “and the inequitable availability of strength training facilities. This appears to extend to limited food options and other tournament-related amenities.
“The NCAA has acknowledged that this is ‘disrespectful.’ In the committee’s view, it is more than that. It undermines the NCAA’s authority as a proponent and guarantor of Title IX protections, and it sets women’s college athletics back across the country.”
NEW: The NCAA’s committee on women’s athletics sent a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert today demanding an independent investigation into disparities at the basketball tournaments.
The situation “sets women’s college athletics back across the country,” the letter says. pic.twitter.com/MJKzPNGiML
“This deserves attention,” Kershner, the Stanford coach, wrote in her post. “In a year defined by a fight for equality this is a chance to have a conversation and get better.”
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork chimed in: “I appreciate that [NCAA women’s basketball] staff is working on a solution but this is unacceptable to begin with.”
“If you aren’t upset about this problem,” Prince said, “then you’re a part of it.”
NCAA apologizes
Speaking to reporters in Indianapolis on Friday, NCAA president Mark Emmert addressed the inequities. He called the weight training disparities “inexcusable” and “deeply disappointing.”
NCAA vice president of men’s basketball Dan Gavitt also took responsibility. “We have intentionally organized basketball under one umbrella (at the NCAA) to ensure consistency and collaboration,” he said in a statement. “When we fall short on these expectations, it’s on me.
“I apologize to the women’s basketball student-athletes, coaches and the women’s basketball committee for dropping the ball on the weight rooms in San Antonio.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
