Staley pleads for Congress to help ‘level the playing field’ in men’s, women’s sports
The NCAA came under fire this year for the unequal amenities available for teams and players at the men’s and women’s postseason basketball tournaments. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley is determined to not let it happen again.
Staley, Stanford’s women’s coach Tara VanDerveer and Stanford player Anna Wilson spoke in a videoconference with the Democratic Women’s Caucus on Tuesday about the disparities between men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis and and the women’s basketball tournament in San Antonio.
“I believe it is not only important but imperative that Congress address the inequities that currently exist between men’s and women’s basketball. I graduated from college in 1992, and I’ve coached collegiately for 21 years,” Staley said on the call, according to ESPN. “And sadly, these inequities still exist.”
Typically the tournaments are held in multiple states and venues across the country, but COVID-19 forced the tournaments to be held in a bubble environment like the 2020 NBA playoffs. The differences of the setup and perks of the two tournaments came to light when pictures of weight rooms were posted on social media.
Pictures from the men’s tournament site showed a full complement of weights put in a ballroom of a hotel, while the women’s site only had sets of dumbbells. Dick’s Sporting Goods sent truckloads of fitness equipment to the women’s teams participating in Texas. The “swag” package of clothes and goods given to each player was much more bountiful for the men than the women, according to social media posts.
Different types of COVID testing was done at each tournament, with the men’s athletes receiving the daily PCR tests that are considered more accurate. Those at the women’s tournament received daily antigen tests.
NCAA president Mark Emmert and NCAA vice president of basketball Dave Gavitt both issued apologies in March, and Emmert admitted the NCAA “dropped the ball” in the situation and vowed that it won’t happen again.
The NCAA has commissioned a report to examine championships in all three divisions to identify other issues that may need to be addressed. The report is expected to be released this summer.
Staley and others who spoke Tuesday think a hearing in front of Congress needs to be held on the matter.
“Let’s be honest: This is the NCAA. We need to trust, but verify,” Staley said. “The way this investigation is set up, the NCAA is the investigator’s client and, due to attorney-client privilege, we may never know the full story. They will release what they want us to know, not what we need to know.
“So I’m here today to ask you, as members of Congress, to call for a hearing on this issue. And ask this question: ‘How does the NCAA, an organization that purportedly exists to serve our student-athletes, allow gender-based discrimination at their flagship event?’ The time is now to level the playing field ... so the inequities that the world saw this spring are a thing of the past.”
Staley, who was mentioned as a candidate for the open Portland Trail Blazers job, will be coaching Team USA Women’s Basketball in the Tokyo Olympics next month.
