A University of Oregon women's basketball player is calling out the NCAA for what she feels is a sexist disparity among the weight room amenities for the men's and women's players at March Madness this year.
Sophomore forward Sedona Prince posted a video on TikTok and Twitter that has been viewed more than 7 million times for depicting the difference between the weight room equipment provided for the women's players and what has been furnished for the men's players at this year's NCAA Tournament.
"I got something to show y’all. So, for the NCAA March Madness, the biggest tournament in college basketball for women, this is our weight room,” she says while pointing toward a small stack of free weights.
"Let me show ya'll the men's weight room," she says over a panoramic view of a large workout area filled with equipment.
She also used the hashtags #inequality #fightforchange on her post.
The men's and women's tournaments are each being held in bubbles in one city this season due to the pandemic. The men's tournament is in Indianapolis, while the women's tournament is in San Antonio.
"Now when pictures of our weight room got released versus the men’s, the NCAA came out with a statement saying that it wasn’t money, it was space that was the problem,” Prince says in the video.
She then documents a large open space across a whole empty court available right next to the women's practice court. The space has no weight machines or dumbbells or other equipment.
"If you aren’t upset about this problem, then you are a part of it," she said.
Lynn Holzman, the NCAA vice president of women's basketball, responded to the video in a statement to NBC News.
"We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment," she said. "In part, this is due to the limited space and the original plan was to expand the workout area once additional space was available later in the tournament. However, we want to be responsive to the needs of our participating teams, and we are actively working to enhance existing resources at practice courts, including additional weight training equipment."
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, tennis icon Billie Jean King, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former college basketball star Stacey Dales were among those to weigh in on the disparity highlighted by Prince.
"wow-come on now! @marchmadness @NCAA yall trippin trippin," Curry tweeted.
"Equal time, equal access, equal facilities, equal treatment," King tweeted. "The #NCAA must do better. #EqualityForAll"
"This is outrageous, @NCAA," Schumer tweeted. "It needs to be fixed. Now."
"For somebody who once played in this tournament, many years ago, you’d think times have changed, even with a pandemic," Dales tweeted. "This is APPALLING. Don’t just do better, FIX it. Thanks Sedona."