Faced with a wave of indignation and accusations that it would give more importance to men’s basketball players than to athletes participating in the women’s tournament next week, the NCAA. apologized Friday for vast disparities in the training facilities during its marquee championship events.
Later in the day, Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA., recognized a further surprising imbalance between men and women. women’s tournaments: different coronavirus testing methods for athletes and others in “controlled environments” at tournaments.
The method used at the men’s event in Indiana is called a polymerase chain reaction test, or PCR test, which is considered the gold standard for virus testing. It is very sensitive and almost always detects infections. The method used for the Texas women’s tournament is a rapid antigen test, which is less expensive and generally gives faster results, but is less sensitive and more likely to give false negatives.
“We have complete confidence in all the medical protocols that have been put in place,” Emmert said, adding that the NCAA has brought in national and local medical advisors to formulate plans for the events. “All the health experts are saying that the protocol they are currently using at all of our venues and all of our championships makes no difference in our ability to mitigate risk.”
Controversy around the women’s tournament erupted this week with complaints about uneven facilities. Players in the men’s tournament benefited from a massive, well-stocked training complex in downtown Indianapolis. But the women’s soccer stars, who will play their tournament in Texas starting Sunday, appeared to only have a rack of hand weights.
Faced with the outcry Friday, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president of basketball, apologized for “dropping the ball, frankly.”
“We’re going to get it fixed as soon as possible,” he said from Indiana.
Similarly, Lynn Holzman, who played at Kansas State and became the NCAA’s vice president of women’s basketball, said Friday that organizers “failed.” His voice occasionally clipped during a video conference with reporters, Holzman acknowledged the episode was a “flaw.”
“I’ve been in situations where there wasn’t something like this,” she said, adding that there would be an “aspect of accountability” in future discussions about what happened. in Texas.
“When it’s personal, it’s as real as it can be,” she said. “It hurts. And when people care passionately about something – in this case, women’s basketball – our fans, our student-athletes who play this sport, it’s our responsibility to give them a great experience championship and of which they can be proud.
Although the NCAA faced serious challenges last year, it makes so much money from the men’s tournament that providing equal amenities to all should not be a financial problem. The men’s tournament is the crown jewel of the NCAA, which will draw in more than $850 million in television rights this year alone. The women’s tournament, by comparison, is part of a multi-sport broadcast deal worth nearly $42 million this fiscal year.
The NCAA released an online statement from Holzman on Thursday, in which she attributed the lack of women’s weight rooms in part to the lack of space in San Antonio, where most of the tournament is being held. She was quickly arrested under this pretext.
Sedona Prince, a sophomore at Oregon, posted a video online showing an abundance of space where women work out. Adjacent to the women’s training ground, a large open space lies unused.
“If you’re not upset about this issue, then you are,” Prince said.
The NCAA’s apology came after a wave of online criticism. It all started shortly after Ali Kershner, a sports performance coach at Stanford, published images Thursday, of a cavernous weight room at the men’s tournament, where teams will live under strict restrictions, and sparse facilities at the women’s tournament.
Although each tournament has at least 64 teams, the men were provided with training equipment including barbells, barbells and squat machines, all arranged in what appeared to be a hotel ballroom, while the women apparently only had a rack of dumbbells, none weighing more than 30 pounds. .
“Women want and deserve equal opportunities,” Kershner wrote in her online post. “In a year marked by the fight for equality, this is an opportunity to have a conversation and improve.”
Prince also posted a video showing the dinner offered at the women’s tournament, opening a plastic container to reveal mashed potatoes, a soggy trio of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and what she got concluded was “a kind of meat.” She added: “Everyone says it’s a Salisbury steak?
By comparison, the men’s tournament featured an assortment of “petit filet,” lobster mac and cheese and grilled asparagus, according to a Twitter post from Alan Bishop, director of men’s basketball sports performance at the University from Houston. After listing a few items on the menu, he commented, “It’s not bad!!! »
Some student-athletes were already taking advantage of the tournaments to air their grievances with the NCAA over limits placed on players who profited from their fame. Earlier this week, players began tweeting with the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty to protest the association’s rules. Although much of the public dissent has focused on the men’s tournament, the issue has also surfaced around the women’s event.
Donna A. Lopiano, who served as director of women’s athletics at Texas for nearly two decades and is now president of the Drake Group, a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring change to college sports, said in a interview that she was surprised, but also not: that the women were treated so differently during their tournament.
“I can’t say enough how important it is for the NCAA to create an appearance of ownership over everything they do,” she said, suggesting that women in college sports have long been considered after blow compared to men.
Before the NCAA’s apology, top administrators openly expressed their frustration. Ross Bjork, athletic director of Texas A&M, the No. 2 seed in the women’s tournament, said on Twitter Thursday night, “It’s unacceptable to begin with.”
“We have to do better,” he added.
Despite all the outrage, the NCAA still had prominent advocates, including Jody Conradt, a Hall of Famer who coached women’s basketball at Texas for many years. In an interview, Conradt suggested she was willing to give tournament organizers some leeway due to the challenges of holding the competition during a pandemic.
“We want everything to be perfect and we have fought very hard to get equality, recognition and credibility on the women’s side,” Conradt said. “But I don’t think you can ignore the last 12 months.”
Billy Witz contributed reporting from Indianapolis.
