Advocacy Group Calls on NCAA to address gender inequality

March 26, 2021 

Last week the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) - the powerful member-led governing body that oversees college athletics in the US - was called out for sexism and inequality arising out of the treatment of the men's versus women's teams in the 2021 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments. Both are currently underway in Indiana and Texas, and for many, they are the pinnacle of the collegiate basketball season.  

Last Friday, players in the women's tournament took to social media to highlight the over-the-top inequities in the weight rooms allocated to each tournament. Disparities that carried over to the food options, the types of COVID-19 testing being done for both and even to the "swag bags" given to men's and women's players. 

In a post that went viral, Oregon Ducks forward, Sedona Prince shared video of the weight rooms to make it clear.

Following the extensive public outcry, the NCAA apologized and improved the disparities in amenities and resources offered at tournaments. However, the larger issue of historic gender inequality remains, with the current discrepancies cleary illuminating an issue that women's collegiate programs have become accustomed to dealing with. 

As another example, the trademarked "March Madness" brand itself does not officially include the women's tournament. This was addressed in a recent Wall Street Journal article which noted:

"The reason for that absence is that the NCAA has withheld use of the “March Madness” brand from women’s college basketball. It has used the memorable phrase to turn the men’s tournament into a billion-dollar juggernaut, and at the same time declined to use it for the women’s tournament that has grown in popularity in recent years. The result is that the NCAA has held back a valuable asset from the women’s tournament even as it now says it is committed to putting it on an equal footing with the men’s tournament."

Since then, the National Collegiate Players Association (NCPA), a reform advocacy group that has helped organize player protests this year, has called on the NCAA to address inequality in its sports more broadly and enforce Title IX compliance throughout its member institutions. 

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that protects people from discrimination based on sex. It prohibits any gender-based discrimination in any education program or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. 

A release on the NCPA website states: "Because Federal Title IX compliance in athletics has been weak and the NCAA has failed to act, the NCPA has begun seeking enforcement through state law. The NCPA sponsored California AB 609, 'The College Athlete Race and Gender Equity Act'. Introduced by California State Senator Sydney Kamlager, the bill would suspend athletic directors for three years for failing to comply with Title IX."

Regarding the whole experience, Ali Kershner, a sports performance coach at Stanford University, stated: "This needs to be addressed. These women want and deserve to be given the same opportunities. In a year defined by a fight for equality, this is a chance to have a conversation and get better."