The NCAA has never been at the forefront of diversity, equality, or inclusion. Many would argue they’re actually decades behind other leagues in terms of embracing change. But late Thursday night when photos of the “different” set ups for the Men’s and Women’s NCAA tournaments went viral, College’s governing body once more found itself at the centre of a media maelstrom of its own creation.
If you haven’t seen the disparity between the Men’s weight room and Women’s weight rooms at the annual tournaments, then see Sedona Prince’s video below:
It would be one thing if there were a few machines absent from one set up, where the organizers could say their supplier didn’t have equipment on hand or some other loosely thrown together excuse (as if they hadn’t been aware the tournament would be taking place for months now). But comparing the women’s set up to the men’s is like comparing a horse drawn carriage to a Lamborghini.
It’s 2021, not 1972. Next year will mark 50 years since Title IX legislature was passed which states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” How is this still an issue?
The optics of the situation are damning enough. On one side you have a fully stocked Movati Fitness centre, and on the other you have Dwight Schrute’s Gym For Muscles. Making matters worse, the NCAA attempted to downplay the situation citing a “space issue” as the cause for the discrepancy between the two layouts. An excuse so riddled with holes in its logic that it could pass for a sieve.
First off, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that unless they were staging the women’s weight room in a custodial closet, there could have been additional equipment present. Secondly, as you quickly realize in Sedona’s video, not only was the space issue a blatant lie, but you could park a Boeing jet in the area surrounding the lonely weight rack. I wouldn’t presume to speak for any of the female athletes but, if it were me in that situation, I would probably be less offended by NOT HAVING a weight room at all with some sort of “avoiding gatherings due to COVID” rationale, than the insulting attempt to create one that organizers put together.
Which brings us back to the NCAA. Had this been a 3rd party contractor that put this event together, then they could have at least publicly admonished that company and moved to correct the mistake. But the NCAA is so protective of March Madness, and insistent that their fingerprints are all over everything surrounding it that they’ve got no one to blame but themselves. The damage is done. If there were a telethon for March Madness I’d be waiting for Kanye to stare into the camera and say “The NCAA doesn’t care about women” while a startled Mike Myers fidgeted awkwardly beside him.
Reaction online has been swift, as everyone from celebrities to athletes, media, and activists are chastising the NCAA for its tone deaf approach to the situation. The Athletic’s Ian Mendes wrote “Imagine two people running a 100-metre race. One is at [sic] starting line. One gets to start at the 90-metre mark. Is that fair? Of course not. But that’s women’s sports versus men’s sports. We’ve got a huge head start and we’re just telling women to run faster to catch up.” Women’s programs are underfunded and underappreciated year round on university campuses both north and south of the border. You would think that the one time the NCAA would feign an attempt at “equality” would be at the marquee event on its basketball schedule.
Yet as is always the case with women’s sports, there is always a small but vocal contingent who don’t see the issue with the set ups. They point towards the revenues, the number of fans at events, or even the quality of play (as if they wouldn’t get mopped up and down the court against even the lowliest bench player on any of these women’s teams) as justification for the difference. None of these arguments truly hold up when put under an ounce of scrutiny, but try telling them that.
If you truly are of the belief that, because of differing levels of revenue generation, the NCAA women’s tournament should be run like it’s a semi pro Siberian league, then I don’t know what to tell you. As the statement now gaining steam in the sports community in the wake of this scandal says “If you aren’t upset about this problem, then you’re a part of it.”
How is the women’s NCAA tournament supposed to “catch up” to the men’s side of things when it’s continually relegated to the depths of ESPN 8, if it makes television at all? How do they improve the “quality of play” if what passes for their weight rooms look like they were ordered off Amazon the day before the event? Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of long term athletic development models know that sports are shaped like a pyramid. You need to support the base in order to funnel the top level talent which ultimately drive the TV revenues, sponsorships and more. If you continually whittle away at that base and treat it as an afterthought (at best), then don’t be surprised when it doesn’t become a cash cow for you down the line.
The NCAA is just a microcosm of what’s going on across the North American sports scene. For too long, we’ve been asking women’s programs to do too much, with too little. Work twice as hard, for half the recognition. And while the average sports fan doesn’t have the resources to make changes that governing bodies do, what you can do is just watch a women’s March Madness game this year. Retweet a highlight from it. Bring women’s sports to the forefront. In the age of big data, don’t think that there won’t be financial implications of women’s March Madness games trending or going viral. Sponsors want to be where the eyeballs are, and that’s change anyone with a TV set or a laptop can help effect.
Here’s a link to the women’s March Madness tip off and TV schedule. Tune in, you won’t regret it:
Women’s March Madness Schedule
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @dynessports