NCAA slammed for 'disrespectful' difference in men's and women's basketball training facilities

Sportspeople and public figures have responded to the viral TikTok video and tweet that highlighted the gender disparity

University of Oregon basketball player Sedona Prince posted a video on TikTok highlighting the difference between facilities for male and female players at the NCAA March Madness tournement. TikTok / Show more

American college basketball player Sedona Prince has gone viral on TikTok with a video that highlights the differences between women's and men's NCAA training facilities for the annual March Madness tournament.

"For the NCAA March Madness, the biggest tournament in college basketball for women, this is our weight room," she says, pointing to a rack of 12 dumbbells.

She then says, "Let me show y'all the men's weight room," as she pans around to show an expansive gym.

The video was filmed at the NCAA tournament bubble in San Antonio and is captioned: "It's 2021 and we are still fighting for bits and pieces of equality" with the hashtags: "#ncaa #inequality #fightforchange".

In the video, Prince then goes into the fact the NCAA released a statement saying the lack of facilities for the female athletes was down to "space" not "money", which she then refutes by showing space around the practice court.

She concludes the video: "If you're not upset about this problem, then you're a part of it."

Watch Sedona Prince's TikTok video here: 

At the time of writing, the video had been watched by 5.4 million people and amassed more than 31,900 comments.

The issue was highlighted a day earlier than Prince's videos went live in a tweet by Stanford sports performance coach Ali Kershner on Thursday.

Sharing photos of the men's and women's facilities, Kershner wrote: "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."

The differences between the meals offered to the men and women has also been highlighted on social media:

Following Kershner's tweet, the NCAA responded with a statement from Lynn Holzman, the NCAA’s vice president of women’s basketball, blaming "limited space".

"The original plan was to expand the workout area once additional space was available later in the tournament," says Holzman.

Dan Gavitt, senior vice president of basketball for the NCAA, also responded during a press briefing on Friday, saying: "I apologise to women's basketball student-athletes, to the coaches, Women's Basketball Committee for dropping the ball, frankly, on the weight room issue in San Antonio."

Online reaction to the NCAA's weight room disparity 

On Twitter, American basketball player Ja Morant described the difference in facilities as "disrespectful".

American basketball player Brianna Turner highlighted a difference in attitudes towards the two tournaments, saying that it was implied that female athletes "should be happy" to be there.

Gender justice advocate Farah Khan wrote: "Women athletes are consistently devalued and this is a prime example. Do Better."

Veep actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus retweeted Prince's video, asking simply: "Huh?"