NCAA Faces Backlash Over Disparity Between Women’s, Men’s Weight Rooms

On Thursday, athletes and trainers shared images showing a stark contrast between the women’s and men’s gyms inside of the March Madness bubbles. In a statement, Lynn Holzman, the NCAA’s vice president of women’s basketball, said: “We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment.”

Holzman also said that the NCAA is “actively working” to enhance existing resources for teams at the women’s basketball tournament in San Antonio, Texas.

See all the tweets below:

The NCAA acknowledged the discrepancy in amenities between the men's and women's basketball tournaments on Thursday after images posted to social media drew significant backlash. https://t.co/MHpdGgXPSf

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 19, 2021

"It’s not just a weight room that’s a problem. It’s the inequality of the weight rooms that’s the problem." As #MarchMadness gets underway, UConn's @PaigeBueckers1 is among women's college basketball players raising inequality between tournaments.https://t.co/exSktW7G4b

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 19, 2021

Players and coaches, including Stanford sports performance coach Ali Kershner, posted photos illustrating the differences in facilities.

(📸 kershner.ali, coachalanbishop/Instagram) pic.twitter.com/jqSntApzbW

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 19, 2021

Stanford sports performance coach Ali Kerschner posted this to Instagram earlier today, comparing the men's and women's facilities in their respective bubbles.

Women's teams get six sets of dumbbells, yoga mats and a single stationary bike until the Sweet 16… pic.twitter.com/hOgdJfHXhh

— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) March 18, 2021

Oregon Ducks forward Sedona Prince shared a video on Thursday:

Let me put it on Twitter too cause this needs the attention pic.twitter.com/t0DWKL2YHR

— Sedona Prince (@sedonaprince_) March 19, 2021

WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu and others also voiced concerns:

Women’s @NCAA bubble weight room vs Men’s weight room… thought this was a joke. WTF is this?!?
To all the women playing in the @marchmadness tournament, keep grinding! pic.twitter.com/K04KTv6s46

— Sabrina Ionescu (@sabrina_i20) March 18, 2021

That ncaa bubble weight room situation is beyond disrespectful 😐

— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) March 18, 2021

Here are the differences in amenities/provisions between the Women’s & Men’s NCAA Tournament I’ve seen so far

– Weight room/equipment
– Food
– Swag Bags

Photos from: @Cpav15, @sedonaprince_, @danhenry3, @alikershner pic.twitter.com/2YfCeXaJNn

— AJ McCord (@AJ_McCord) March 19, 2021

Literally against the law makes no sense pic.twitter.com/gDm6n95DKY

— SG (@Super_Garcia1) March 18, 2021

[sportsbookaffiliates]

The NCAA released a statement acknowledging the disparity:

Statement from Lynn Holzman, NCAA VP of women’s basketball.#ncaaW pic.twitter.com/gYsesS9Hky

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 18, 2021

NBA stars and others voiced their concern and shared their support for women athletes:

Beyond 🤦🏾‍♂️ https://t.co/cCz3GIzb2i

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) March 18, 2021

disrespectful 🤦🏽‍♂️ come on man . https://t.co/Mxvi6MupXR

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) March 18, 2021

That’s 🗑 they gotta do better https://t.co/IDSQ5pxPLn

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) March 18, 2021

This is crazy on so many levels.. https://t.co/4VHf9267XJ

— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) March 18, 2021

If these pictures showing the disparity between men's and women's tournament bubble swag bag/dining/weight room options are even remotely accurate, the NCAA should be embarrassed.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) March 18, 2021

Everything in life isn’t always equal, but this is just flat out ridiculous.

Social Media to the rescue again!

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