- ABC News
- June 30, 2021
South Carolina's Dawn Staley and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer on Tuesday called for Congressional involvement regarding the NCAA's treatment of its tournaments for women' sports, including basketball, in the wake of allegations of gender inequity. In a video call with several members of the Democratic Women's Caucus, both coaches spoke about the differences specifically between the men's (Indianapolis) and women's (San Antonio) basketball tournaments that received criticism this spring. Those differences included a vast disparity in weight room facilities, the lack of an outside exercise area for the women and variations in COVID-19 testing and dining options. The furor prompted NCAA president Mark Emmert to acknowledge that with the women's tournament, "We dropped the ball." "It's more like they've always taken the air out of the ball," said VanDerveer, whose Stanford team won the national championship. "The NCAA tournament is the tip of the discrimination iceberg. Through lack of...