Tara VanDerveer on Inequality in College Sports: 'I Feel Betrayed by the NCAA'
Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer came out swinging on Saturday night and called out the NCAA for "blatant sexism" and gender inequality in a statement. She isn't satisfied with apologies or weight room upgrades.
"A lot of what we've seen this week is evidence of blatant sexism," VanDerveer said in the statement. "This is purposeful and hurtful. I feel betrayed by the NCAA. I call on University presidents and conference commissioners to demand accountability. Who made these decisions and why?"
VanDerveer released this statement in the wake of the NCAA facing major backlash for the blatant disparities between the men's and women's college basketball tournaments. Within the past two days, players in the women's tournament called out the NCAA for not equipping them with a proper weight room while the men's tournament was given more than enough room and equipment of their own.
As a result, the NCAA accommodated the women's tournament with a proper weight room on Saturday, but VanDerveer isn't seeing enough and says that she and her peers have run out of patience when it comes to equality.
"Women athletes and coaches are done waiting, not just for upgrades of a weight room, but for equality in every facet of life," VanDerveer said. "Seeing men's health valued at a higher level than that of women, as evidenced by different testing protocols at both tournaments, is disheartening."
"With the obvious disparity between the women's and men's tournaments, the message that is being sent to our female athletes, and women across the world, is that you are not valued at the same level as your male counterparts. This is wrong and unacceptable."
The basketball Hall-of-Famer joins South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley and former Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw as the latest coach to call out the NCAA for the gender inequalities in sports.
The one-seeded Cardinal is scheduled to take on Utah Valley at 10 p.m. ET in the first round of the women's tourney on Sunday, but coach VanDerveer is fighting for more than just one win.
"So much effort from so many people has gone into making this tournament happen," she said. "If it is worth doing at all, it is worth doing it right. Let's fix this once and for all."
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